Photo and Written by Marquis Frias, Assistant Sports Editor
Liv Owen can’t be stopped.
After becoming only the fifth SU women’s lacrosse player to record her 200th point earlier this month, Owen scored her 100th career goal on Wednesday, becoming the first River Hawk to have both over 100 career goals and assists.
She did so in SU’s 13-2 win over Goucher at Sassafras Field in Landmark Conference play.
In the first period, Owen opened the scoring for Susquehanna (7-8 overall, 4-3 Landmark) with an unassisted goal. The following possession from Goucher (6-10, 1-7) also ended up in a goal by Emily Burk, assisted by Tatiana Emeruwa. From there, the onslaught began for the River Hawks as they went on to score 12 unanswered goals. The first quarter ended with two more goals from the River Hawks, including Owen scoring her second of the day and Nicolette Genovese getting on the board as well with her first goal of the day.
With the score at 3-1 to open the second period, Sloane Coddington scored an unassisted goal, with Jessica Russo following up with an unassisted goal two minutes later. Owen continued to make her presence known, this time in the assist column by assisting on two straight goals from Genovese and Allie Kutler. With a minute left in the period, Kutler returned the favor for Owen, assisting on her third goal of the day which helped Owen surpass 100 career goals. Owen’s day didn’t stop there as she would assist on another goal, this time to Sophia Trively. This goal put the score at 9-1 to end the first half.
The second half was more like the first half for the River Hawks with Coddington scoring her second goal of the day. Owen continued her dominant performance with another goal, marking her fourth of the day. Russo got on the board again with another goal with 10 minutes left in the 3rd period. A dry spell for both teams ensued as the next goal was scored with 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter by none other than Owen, marking her fifth goal of the day. Emily Burke for Goucher scored her second goal of the day in the final minutes of the game to make the score 13-2. Owen finished her historic day with eight points, including five goals and three assists on her birthday. Russo and Genovese also pitched in with three points each, scoring two goals and one assist each for the River Hawks.
“Liv is a true leader… one of the things she is good at is assisting. She has a lot of unselfish play,” SU coach Randall Swope said after the win. “I think her presence out on the field relaxes our offense, and they always know she has there back.”
SU currently sits at fifth place in the Landmark standings with two games left to play. Six teams make the playoffs. The River Hawks will play at Scranton on Wednesday night before hosting Elizabethtown on Saturday to close out the regular season.
“We just need to stay as unified as possible… We simply need to do what we know and see what the outcome will be,” Swope said.