Sunday, November 8, 2015

Field Hockey: Catholic 2 Elizabethtown 1


From our friends at Catholic Athletics...

Landmark Champs! Cardinals' Field Hockey Wins at Elizabeth Town, 2-1

The Catholic University of America field hockey team captured its fourth Landmark Conference Championship in five years and did so on the road Saturday afternoon, defeating top-seeded Elizabethtown, 2-1.

No. 19 Cardinals avenged an in-season loss to the Blue Jays and claimed a berth into the 2015 NCAA Tournament with a come-from-behind, road victory.

It was a tale of two halves as Elizabethtown outshot Catholic 9-0 in the first, including a 5-0 advantage on penalty corners. CUA trailed 1-0 at the break as Elizabethtown's leading scorer Alyssa Aichele tallied her 19th goal of the season in the 35th minute.

This was the exact opposite in the final 35 minutes as Catholic was able to own the second half, outshooting the Blue Jays 13-2 with six more penalty corners.

It was senior Kiera McGovern who scored just four minutes into the period, equalizing the game at 1-1 and starting an impressive rally for head coach Gia Cillizza.

The even score held for nearly the next 15 minutes, but the Cards broke through in the 54th minute as rookie Hannah Schied put in a rebound for what proved to be the conference-clinching goal.

The Cardinals had to stave off one last penalty corner by the Blue Jays with no time left, but was able to deflect it away to seal the victory.

Junior goalkeeper Analisa Scott, who played 70 scoreless minutes in the semifinal win at Juniata, totaled five saves against the Blue Jays to earn Landmark Tournament MVP honors.

Click here for yesterday's box score.