By Melissa Barracato Staff writer
Susquehanna’s women’s soccer team suffered its final loss of the season on Nov. 1 in a Landmark semi-final game against Scranton. After the scoreless regulation time ended, the Royals scored off a corner kick in overtime. This ended the season for the River Hawks with a final overall record of 12-6-0.
The Hawks outshot the Royals 5-2 in the first half, whereas Scranton took seven shots to Susquehanna’s one during the second half.
Senior goalie Jordyn Slocum came up with a big save in the last two minutes of regulation to keep the game tied at zero and force the match into overtime.
At 94:44 minutes, Scranton claimed the victory off a header from a corner kick to advance to the conference championships.
“We felt like we put ourselves in the best position possible with our game plan and with our level of play,” said Head Coach Nick Hoover. “The game plan is only as good as the people who are executing it, and I think our players did that to an incredible level.”
Two of the River Hawks’ shots came from junior midfielder Grayclynn Juckes, one of which came in the 67th minute of regulation, which was the last chance that Susquehanna had to score. Scranton had four corner kicks versus Susquehanna’s one, and Slocum had a total of five saves for her 94:44 minutes of work.
“Once we got through the first fifteen minutes where [Scranton] really put on the pressure, we gained a certain level of confidence,” Hoover said. “For the last twenty or twenty-five minutes of that half, we were the better team.”
“We really had a level of belief at that point in ourselves and in our ability. Once we got through the first fifteen minutes we really came out and played well,” Hoover said.
This season has had the most number of wins for the program with Hoover as the head coach, and it is the first time since 2009 that Susquehanna has qualified for the conference playoffs. This year’s record marked the second most wins overall in program history.
“I think when you look back at this season for our program, you say ‘progress.’ We absolutely took a great step forward toward our ultimate goal, which is a conference championship someday,” Hoover said.
“When you have 33 like-minded individuals when it comes to their goals this season and who can really come together on the field, have good team chemistry and a good overall sense of culture, this program will be better for it looking forward,” he added.
