WASHINGTON, D.C. – Catholic field hockey saw its season come to an end on Wednesday evening as the Cardinals fell to Scranton, 0-3, in the Landmark Conference Semifinals. The Cardinals finished with an overall record of 9-10 after earning a spot in the Landmark Tournament for the 17th consecutive season.
The Cardinals held Scranton to just two shots in the opening quarter, but the Royals converted on their second try nearly 11 minutes in to take an early lead. Katie Redding, the Royals leading scorer, deflected the ball into the back of the cage after Elle Collins sent a pass inside from the top of the arc.
The Royals carried their momentum into the second quarter, adding another goal under four minutes in. Lauren Franco inserted on the penalty corner and the ball found Maggie Keys as Franco slipped to the near post to gain position for a tap in.
Catholic's offensive came alive as the clock ticked towards intermission. The Cardinals were awarded six penalty corners within a seven minute stretch and got off three shots, but each was blocked to keep the deficit at two.
The two sides battled to a defensive stalemate in the third quarter with each team sending one shot off target as the score remained 2-0 in favor of the visitors heading into the final frame.
The Cardinals had their best scoring opportunity in the opening 30 seconds of the fourth off a penalty corner set.
Lauren Keast inserted on the corner and
Allison Flynn was able to coral possession in front of the cage. The Scranton goalkeeper slid to protect against a low shot, but Flynn lifted the ball toward the crossbar to avoid the save. As the ball sailed towards the goal line, Kiera Lamb took a stand behind her goalkeeper and reached a stick up to bat the ball away. Catholic rallied to bring the ball back into its offensive zone shortly after, yet could not see one in.
In the final 10 minutes of the contest, the Royals doubled their score courtesy of another Redding finish and a good penalty stroke from Reagan Dolan. Annie Shaw picked up the helper on Redding's 16th goal of the season with five and a half minutes remaining while Dolan stepped up to take the stroke with 1:12 left on the clock and lofted a high shot into the top right corner.
With the four goal victory, Scranton will advance to the Landmark Conference Championship for the second consecutive season. The Royals will play Susquehanna in a rematch of last year's final on Saturday, November 9 in Selinsgrove, Pa.
Niki Micciche ended the season as the team's leading goal scorer with nine and finishes her career ranked fifth in program history in career goals with 37. Keast led the team in assists with seven, five more than her next closest teammate.
Mary Rojack and
Emma Shallow were the only two Cardinals to start all nineteen contests and Shallow finished the year with six defensive saves. Shallow finishes her career ranked sixth all-time in defensive saves in a single season and sits at 26th in Division III in the category this season.
