SELINSGROVE, PA - Susquehanna's field hockey program has seen many parallels in this year's Landmark Conference championship chase compared to last year. After securing the number-one seed in the Landmark Tournament for the second straight year, the River Hawks acquired another first-round bye and met up with their semifinals opponent from 2023 Moravian, beating the Greyhounds 2-0 for another season sweep. And now for the second straight year, third-seeded Scranton knocked off two-seeded Catholic, setting the stage for another River Hawks-Royals rumble at Susquehanna's Sassafras Field for the Landmark title this Saturday at 2 p.m.

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What the River Hawks were already able to achieve that they didn't do last year was a 9-0 Landmark record for the first unbeaten conference regular season in school history. While Catholic stood in Susquehanna's way of that distinction last year, Susquehanna delivered a resounding 3-0 win over the Cardinals in this year's regular season finale to lock down the top seed. The River Hawks stand at 14-5 overall on the year. Scranton, despite a 7-2 league mark after defeats to Susquehanna and Catholic during the year, lead the Landmark in overall wins this season with an 18-3 overall ledger. In their matchup earlier this season at Scranton, the River Hawks used two first-quarter goals towards a 2-1 win, keeping the Royals off the board until halfway through the fourth quarter.

Head coach Allison Fordyce's team remains as as strong as ever despite some talent graduating from the 2023 championship team. A few key returners include goalkeeper and the 2023 Landmark Tournament MVP Ashley Derrick and midfielder Ashley Schreffler. Fellow Seniors Kari Schmidt and Sophia Prata both carry with them a team-high nine goals this season, while first-year midfielder Mady Quigley ranks third with six goals as one of the team's newest threats. Senior Lydia Hidlay, who has taken the bulk of the team's penalty corner inserts this season, leads with ten assists, while logging four goals, some of which she deflected in off blasts from her corners. 

In Wednesday's semifinals matchup with Moravian, sophomore Taylor Rothermel aided in both of Susquehanna's goals to help carry out the win. After a scoreless first quarter, the River Hawks got on the board early in the second when Rothermel took advantage of a stray ball deep in Moravian territory, passing it through to an open Lauren Leibensperger for the first goal. They held on to a one-goal lead until early in the fourth quarter when Rothermel passed it across the face from the right side to Prata, who buried it in. Despite the slim lead for most of the game, Susquehanna kept control, outshooting the Greyhounds 18-1 and administering ten penalty corners to MU's three.