HUNTINGDON, Pa. - The Juniata field hockey team fell 6-0 to a persistent Scranton offense on Senior Day, Saturday afternoon.
The Royals opened the first period with pressure from the start, with a wide shot in the second minute and the first goal of the game in the sixth minute, as Scranton passed the ball a couple of times across the goal before finding an angle past goalkeeper Brittney McMullen.
Juniata responded with their strongest offensive effort of the game, with a penalty corner and a shot from Miranda Madara from ten yards away in the 12th minute. The Royals continued to press with two shots on goal saved by Amanda Puza and a shot defensively saved by Kaylyn Walters.
Scranton struck quickly in the second period, as McMullen made a diving stop, and the rebound was pounced on by a Royals player and lobbed over McMullen. The third Royals goal came in the 25th minute, as McMullen ventured away from the caged to try and clear a through ball. Instead, a Scranton player met the ball and passed it to a teammate waiting unmarked at the right corner of the cage.
Scranton missed with two shots before halftime but entered with a 3-0 lead.
Scranton earned a penalty stroke in the opening seconds of the third period, and the ball was slotted into the top right corner for the fourth goal. Isabella Stranick made a defensive save on a 33rd-minute shot, and the Scranton offense slowed for the next ten minutes. Two shots came in the final few minutes, with Puza making two more saves.
Scranton padded the lead with a pair of goals in the fourth quarter, coming in the 49th and 56th minutes.
McMullen and Puza alternated time in the cage, with Puza logging four saves and McMullen totaling two.
The lone shot came from Madara in the 12th minute.
Seniors Aspen Handel, Miranda Madara, Brittney McMullen (returning in 2023 as a graduate student), Hannah Moore, and Kalee Rothermel were honored prior to their final game for the Juniata field hockey team.
The Eagles end the 2022 season 3-15 overall and 2-5 in the Landmark Conference with victories coming against Lycoming (5-1), Elizabethtown (1-0), and Goucher (3-1).
