By Evin Caswell, Staff Writer
The Susquehanna field hockey team came up short in the Landmark Conference Championship game at the University of Scranton on Nov. 9, losing to the Royals 4-1.
“It was a hard-fought game between two teams that both deserved to win,” senior forward Heather Casey said. “It may not have been the outcome we wanted but we are celebrating our incredible season moving forward.”
The first score of the game came from Scranton’s senior forward Gracie McClatchy about 12 minutes into the game.
Following that initial goal, Scranton scored twice more, with one coming off of a penalty corner and one coming off a deflection on a defensive save made by the River Hawks, leading 3-0.
Susquehanna remained scoreless in the game until the fourth quarter when Pitman scored off an assist from junior midfielder Vivian Simone, trailing 3-1.
Scranton’s McClatchy scored the final goal of the match at the 50-minute mark of the fourth quarter to give Scranton a 4-1 lead.
Susquehanna took a total of 11 shots throughout the game, connecting on just one with 13 penalty corners attempts, while their defense tallied four saves throughout the game.
Scranton shot a total of nine shots, connecting on four of them, while taking six penalty corner attempts. Their defense added six saves to their box score.
Pitman recorded her 21st goal of the season as Simone picked up her fourth assist on the year. Smith was able to increase her total defensive saves on the season to seven.
Pitman led the team in shots on goal with five, with her teammates Casey, senior Anna Dietl and sophomore Katie Koch adding one shot each.
Susquehanna finished their season with a 10-11 overall record and a 5-2 conference record.
“Although we did not receive the outcome we were looking for against Scranton, the fight and determination shown throughout this season cannot be matched,” Green said. “[I’m] truly excited to see what is next for the Susquehanna field hockey team.”
Despite coming up short as a team, multiple members of the field hockey team received individual honors following the conclusion of the season.
Pitman was named to the All-Landmark First Team, while also being selected as the Landmark Conference Player of the Year. Smith and sophomore midfielder Kelsey Murray were also named to the All-Landmark First Team.
