WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - For the fourth straight game, Catholic field hockey held its opponent scoreless, defeating Lycoming 5-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Niki Micciche scored three of the team's five goals in the victory.
The Cardinals have now gone 17 quarters and more than 250 minutes without allowing a goal as they ride a four-game winning streak to improve to 9-4 on the season. Catholic is 5-1 in Landmark play and has outscored opposing teams 17-2 in those six games.
Lauren Keast and
Ashley Martin scored the other two goals for Catholic in the victory while
Sophia Conners and
Allison Flynn picked up assists.
Abigail Kearney and
Hope Kaczynski split time in goal with Kaczynski recording a save on Lycoming's lone shot of the contest.
Keast opened the scoring just under 25 minutes into the contest, cruising through an opening in the Lycoming defense and lofting the ball to the far-right side of the cage, beating the keeper to put Catholic ahead 1-0. Less than a minute later, the Cardinals struck again.
Lauren D'Emilio squared up dead in front of the cage and couldn't put a clean strike on it, but the ball bounded to Micciche who calmly scored her first of the day to make it 2-0.
Less than two minutes later, Micciche scored again. This time, she corralled the ball on the left side of the cage and scored via a cheeky back-handed lift past Isabella Bobe. Just like that it was 3-0 after three goals in 2:50.
Micciche's third goal of the contest came in the third quarter, just over eight minutes into the period. Conners sped around a defender on the wing and played it in for Micciche. Micciche possessed for a second, spun, and beat Bobe for her third of the day.
Martin's goal came off a Catholic penalty corner as the ball was played up for Flynn who pushed it to her right where a wide-open Martin loaded up and put it through the keeper's legs for the fifth Catholic goal of the day.
Micciche ends a five-goal goalless drought with the hat trick, giving her seven goals on the season and 26 for her career. Micciche has 61 career points in 49 games played. Martin's goal was her first of the season and fifth of her Catholic career. A veteran of the program, Martin is three appearances away from 50 career games played. Keast's goal was the first of her Catholic career.
