By Brandon Farren, Staff Writer
The Susquehanna women’s field hockey team fell on the road to conference rival Scranton 3–2 on Saturday, Oct. 20.
The Royals (12–3) jumped out to an early lead in the game, with a goal in the first two minutes off a rebounded shot.
Susquehanna only managed two shots in the first 25 minutes of action and would allow another Scranton goal in the 25th minute, which put them in a 2–0 hole.
The River Hawks called time out just before the half in an attempt to turn the tide heading into halftime. This would prove to be a smart coaching move as the River Hawks finally snuck one past the Royals to get on the board thanks to a goal from junior midfielder Heather Casey.
The Royals answered with a last-minute goal of their own to take a 3–1 lead into the half.
The second half would be much more closely contested as Susquehanna looked to be on the comeback trail. The River Hawks outplayed the Royals in the second half and were able to score another goal thanks to a shot from sophomore attacker Jenni Sabbak to narrow the deficit to just one.
With 10 minutes remaining in the game, Susquehanna was threatening to tie things up on a shot by junior attacker Hunter Pitman, but the shot was saved by the Royals goalkeeper and the score remained 3–2 heading into the final minutes.
That would be the closest the River Hawks would get to sending the game to overtime as Scranton took the 3–2 victory.
Several players turned in notable performances for the River Hawks. Casey scored a goal and assisted on another. Sabbak scored a goal and extended her goal streak to five straight games. Senior attacker Stephanie Sachs assisted on the first goal of the game for Susquehanna.
Junior goalkeepers Veronica Green and Emily DiGaetano combined for eight saves.
This loss dropped the River Hawks to 8–8 on the season with their final game coming against Drew University on Oct. 27 at Sassafras Field. This matchup presents the last chance for this River Hawk team to finish their 2018 campaign with a winning record.
Susquehanna is currently sitting in fifth place in the landmark conference but could over take fourth-placed Juniata with a win and a Juniata loss.
