Box Score SELINSGROVE, Pa. – A close contest went in favor of the Susquehanna field hockey team on Saturday afternoon as the Crusaders held off Drew and came away with a 2-1 win. SU (6-6) improves to 1-1 in Landmark Conference play while the visiting Rangers (1-9) drop to 0-2.
Brodie Ercole (Oakmont, Pa./Lewisburg Area) finished with three points on one goal and one assist and Katherine Millett (Auburn, Maine/North Yarmouth Academy) scored her team-leading eighth goal to bring her season total to 20 points, fourth-best in the Landmark.
The Rangers struck first after Huma Sheikh collected her own rebound in front of the net and scored in in the 11th minute. SU answered just over five minutes later when a fast break turned into a three-on-one situation that ended with a goal from Millett with an assist from Ercole.
Out of halftime, the Crusaders pulled ahead at the 43-minute mark when Ercole poked a ball past Drew keeper Sarah Stewart into the bottom-right corner of the net.
The Rangers, however, kept the game tight and earned three penalty corners shortly following the goal, but were turned away three times by Alyssa Rothman (Trooper, Pa. /Methacton), who recorded six saves in the win.
SU nearly picked up an insurance goal in the 50th minute behind a shot from Emily Novakovich (Saratoga, Calif./Lynbrook), but was denied by defender Michelle Fallon, who totaled three defensive saves. Novakovich finished with seven shots, including four on goal.
The teams were nearly identical on the scoresheet, as SU held a thin 17-16 shot margin and Drew held a narrow 9-8 lead in penalty corners.
Field hockey will travel to Elizabethtown on Friday, Oct. 10 for its next Landmark conference match in a game scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
