SELINSGROVE, Pa. – The Catholic field hockey team entered its last regular season contest with a chance to earn the top seed in the Landmark Conference Tournament, but came up just short against Susquehanna, 0-3.
The River Hawks, who finished the regular season undefeated in conference play, took a one goal lead in the first half and added two in the second to run away with the victory.
The Cardinals gained momentum heading into halftime, earning a penalty corner in the 28th minute and working the ball around to get off their first shot of the contest shortly after.
Lauren Keast inserted on the corner and
Molly Romano had a look at the cage, but her shot was blocked before it could reach her target.
Catholic's best chance came just after the break when they were awarded another corner and followed it with two shot attempts. Romano's second shot of the day was saved before Keast sent another one on target that was also stopped by the keeper.
Susquehanna started the game with a lot of pressure on Catholic's defense. The River Hawks put up five shots and found the back of the cage six minutes and a half minutes in to take an early lead. The hosts doubled their advantage with three minutes remaining in the third quarter as Ashley Schreffler struck again, sliding another shot passed the defense. The last goal of the contest came with just over a minute left on the clock.
Goalkeeper
Ella Bowman made a career high 10 saves on the day, surpassing her previous best of seven. She saw 24 shots come her way, 13 of which were on target. The freshman also faced 11 penalty corner sets from the River Hawks. The Cardinals finished with three shots, two on target, and two penalty corners.
Susquehanna improved to 13-5 overall and 9-0 in the Landmark, earning the one seed in the Conference Tournament. Catholic finished the regular season at 9-9 overall and 7-2 in the Landmark, even with Scranton. Thanks to Catholic's 2-1 victory over the Royals on October 5, the Cardinals hold the tiebreaker and will be the two seed.
Catholic will begin postseason play on Wednesday, November 6 as a part of the semifinal round in the Landmark Conference Tournament. The second-seeded Cardinals will host the winner of the Drew and Scranton match at Cardinal Stadium.
