Photo Courtesy of Susquehanna Athletics
By Thamoda Haputhanthri
The Susquehanna Women’s soccer team came out victorious against Lycoming College in a 4-1 rout in their penultimate regular season match Saturday at Sassafras Field.
The River Hawks came out the gate feet ablaze, as a deflected cross from junior Ava Billmeyer would find fellow junior Kate Adelman, who would put Susquehanna on the board with a brilliant half volley only six minutes in.
Only a minute later, a wonderful finish from another junior, this time Caroline Slunt, would double the Warriors’ misery. Billmeyer also assisted on Slunt’s goal, giving her two assists in the match just eight minutes into the contest.
As the first half continued, Susquehanna’s Cara Neeld would tangle with a Lycoming attacker in the box, setting up a Lycoming penalty kick Ella Magee, which Magee was able to convert.
The goal helped Lycoming cut into the Susquehanna lead 2-1, while also denying the River Hawks and goalie Katie Henchy of their seventh clean sheet of the season.
Neeld would be spared from her mistake however, as Lycoming’s John Maddy would push Ava Billmeyer down in the box, earning the second penalty of the game only five minutes later.
Billmeyer would step up and convert from the spot for her fifth goal of the season, giving the River Hawks a 3-1 lead just 25 minutes into the contest.
The rest of the first half slowed down for both teams, as a deadlocked was seemingly placed on both of the goals for the remainder of the first half after an eventful start to the match.
As the second half opened, both teams we’re looking to release the deadlock, but for different reasons. The River Hawks we’re simply looking for another goal to keep the game out of reach, while Lycoming needed two goals to attempt a comeback.
In the 75th minute, it would be Susquehanna’s Hannah Parslow to put the game beyond doubt with a floater to the top left corner, after a sumptuous assist from Slunt to give the River Hawks a 4-1 lead.
Susquehanna’s defense helped generate stops in the final 15 minutes while the offense played keep away to help the River Hawks seal the victory.
The box score illustrated a more even contest than the scoreline suggested. The River Hawks outshot the Warriors 18-17, 11-7 on target, the four on target being the main difference in the two.
Lycoming made one more save than Susquehanna, recording seven saves on the night. The affair saw its fair share of physicality with 19 fouls recorded, and one yellow card being picked up by Casse MacPherson of Lycoming.
With one game left remaining on Susquehanna’s schedule, the River Hawks are still on the outside lookin in to the Landmark Conference playoff picture at the seven seed. With the top six teams advancing, Wilkes sits at the sixth spot with a 3-3-2 record, who are set to take on Lycoming college.
A Susquehanna win against the 0-8 Goucher Gophers paired with a Wilkes draw or loss against Lycoming would see the River Hawks sneak into the postseason for a second straight season.
The River Hawks will take on Goucher in the season finale with playoff implications on Wednesday, Oct 28 at 7 p.m. at Sassafras field.