Box Score

TOWSON, Md. – A four-goal output in the second half propelled the Susquehanna field hockey team to a 5-1 victory at Landmark Conference opponent Goucher on Saturday afternoon in Towson.

Senior Gina Palazzi (Newfoundland, Pa./Wallenpaupack) scored twice for SU and three other players chipped in goals while the Crusader defense gave up just one first-half goal to the Gophers.

As a team, the Crusaders (4-10, 2-3) out-shot Goucher (3-9, 0-5) by a 20-7 margin and put 15 of their shots on goal. Palazzi led the team with a game-high eight shots while three other players had at least two shots apiece. SU also had a 15-2 edge in penalty corners.

Goalie Margaret Ruth (Lewisberry, Pa./Northern) racked up five saves in her 70 minutes of work.

At almost exactly the 13-minute mark of the opening half, Goucher's Antonia DiLuca scored off an assist from teammate Taylor Benzel as Goucher took the first lead of the afternoon.

Roughly five minutes later, Palazzi erased that lead thanks to a goal off a Brodie Ercole (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg Area) assist with 18:09 on the clock that knotted the game at one. By the time the half ended, SU held a 12-6 edge in total shots and had forced Goucher goalie Emily Gill into make eight saves.

Whatever was said at halftime sparked the Crusader offense as the team exploded for a four-goal second half while the defense pitched a second-half shutout. Ercole added to her point total on the day by scoring six minutes into the period and five minutes later, Ally Bradley (Jamison, Pa./Central Bucks South) got in on the scoring action with a shot just inside the circle that made it into the cage.

The SU offense ended the game by adding two insurance goals with less than four minutes to play, the first from Palazzi, her second score of the afternoon, and the final goal came from Tiffany Collins (Hanover, Md./Meade) with just six ticks left on the clock for a 5-1 final.

The field hockey squad returns home to host Kean on Oct. 16 at 7 p.m.