ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – Catholic field hockey continued its hot streak in Landmark Conference play with a 2-0 win over Elizabethtown on Tuesday evening. With the victory, the Cardinals returned to .500 on the season and moved to 5-0 in the conference.
The Cardinals have won the last eight match ups against the Blue Jays dating back to 2017 and hold an all-time series record of 12-3.
Elizabethtown struck first in this contest, scoring on its second penalty corner seven minutes in. Rachel Troutman gather the ball off a penalty corner set and lofted it into the cage from just inside the shooting circle to give her team an early lead.
Lauren Keast pulled the Cardinals back even two minutes later with a tap in from the left corner.
Mary Rojack picked up an assist on the play after controlling the ball in front, shielding possession from the defense with a spin move, and finding her teammate near the goal line. This marked Keast's fifth goal of the season and Rojack's second assist.
The game did not remain tied for long as Catholic pulled ahead a minute and half into the second quarter with a goal from
Niki Micciche. This time Keast initiated the play by using her strong stick skills to maneuver around multiple defenders and time a perfect pass to a cutting Micciche for the tap in. With the goal, Micciche moved into 10th in program history in career points with 79. She is two points shy of surpassing Meredith Chandler ('11) who sits at ninth all-time.
The scored remained 2-1 in favor of the visitors for the rest of the game. Catholic entered halftime leading Elizabethtown in shots (5-3) and corner opportunities (4-2). However, the Blue Jays gained a few opportunities in the second half to take the advantage in pental corners. They finished with eight to the Cardinals' seven.
Goalkeeper
Ella Bowman saw eight shots aimed at her cage, five which were on target. The freshman made three saves on the day and was helped by
Emma Shallow who made a defensive save in the fourth quarter. Shallow has been active behind Bowman all season long, racking up six defensive saves on the season to sit in a tied for 11th in all of Division III. She also moved into a tie for fourth in program history in single-season defensive saves.
Keast and
Shallow led the Cardinals in shots with three apiece. Rojack added two while
Nancy McGettigan,
Allison Flynn and Micciche each recorded one.
Tess Hake and
Bella Reyes were the only two subs for Catholic, adding valuable minutes to help their team remain perfect in conference play.
The Cardinals are home for their next two contests, starting with Lycoming on Saturday, October 19. The weekend battle is set to begin at 1 p.m.
