Photos By Michael Lipscomb
By Sophie Cole
The River Hawks have fallen to the Royals the past three seasons, but after Saturday’s game that ended in a 3-0 loss for Susquehanna, it became four.
Scranton (14-1-2 overall, 8-0 Landmark) got off to a quick start after Niamh Healy converted on a corner kick in just the third minute of the game, making the score 1-0. The River Hawks (5-9-3, 1-5-2) gave up another corner a minute later, but goalkeeper Katie Henchy was able to make a quick reaction save to keep the Royals’ advantage at one.
Scranton dominated possession for the majority of the first half, only giving up one shot on goal and one corner kick. SU’s defense was working overtime and Henchy made three more crucial saves to keep the score the same. In the final three minutes of the half, the River Hawks were awarded two free kicks to try and even the score, but they came up short. The score at the end of the first half remained 1-0.
“I thought we battled, I thought we had a good gameplan coming it, just didn’t quite execute it in the first couple minutes,” Susquehanna head coach Nick Hoover said. Going into the second half the coach said, “We put our pressure in the midfield up a little bit more, and we were looking to try and break down their back line a bit more with some passing.”
After another strong start in the second half, the Royals got another chance to score in the first two minutes of the half. Senior forward Samantha Goffice capitalized on that chance, making the score 2-0 with forty-three minutes left to play. Susquehanna had a quick spark of energy after junior midfielder Sydney Williams played a great ball through to the forward, but the Royals goalie, Makenzie Van Arsdale, was able to pick it off before anything could come of it.
Susquehanna conceded their third goal with twenty-seven minutes left to play after Henchy made the initial save, but the defense was unable to clear the ball, and sophomore midfielder Jenna Borelli was able to follow it up and score.
The game ended 3-0 with Scranton coming out on top.
“The key point I take away the most is that they just kept battling and kept fighting, no matter who we put in,” Hoover said. As the Hawks only have two games left in their season, Hoover said his main goal is to “try to get a win,” and “to get a result that goes our way, the way we want it to is our goal.”
The River Hawks will play their last home game against Dickinson 7 p.m. Wednesday. Saturday, SU will travel to play their final game of the season against Drew.
