SCRANTON, Pa. – Juniata College senior Kim Amrod (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield) logged the 100th point of her career, but the Eagles failed to generate enough offense to overtake the University of Scranton in a 3-1 loss to the Lady Royals, in Landmark Conference field hockey action Monday night at Fitzpatrick Field.
Monday evening's game, postponed from Saturday due to snow, was the regular season finale for both squads, and sends Juniata (10-7, 3-3 Landmark) into this week's Landmark Conference Field Hockey Tournament as the no. 4 seed. Juniata will face top-seeded Catholic University of America (14-1, 6-0 Landmark) on Wednesday afternoon in Washington, D.C. in the semifinals.
Game time for Wednesday's semifinal will be determined on Tuesday.
The University of Scranton (12-5, 3-3 Landmark) scored twice in the second half to break open what had been barely a one-goal game heading into the halftime intermission.
Scranton's Gretchen Kempf ended a nearly 30 minute run of scoreless hockey with 5:06 remaining in the first half, poking a shot past diving Juniata goalie Janelle Howard (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) for her 15th goal of the season.
The Lady Royals doubled their lead not even a minute-and-a-half into the second stanza, with Kempf again finding the back of the Juniata cage – this time on a blast from 10 yards out on a breakaway.
Sophomore Emma Dahmus (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) got Juniata on the scoreboard with 17:01 remaining, firing a shot past Scranton's Alexandria Marandino from the top of the scoring circle on a penalty corner.
Amrod set up Dahmus' goal to collect her sixth assist of the season, the 24th of her career, to go with 38 career goals for 100 career points. She is just the third player in Juniata history to join the 100-point club, joining Kim Wagner (184 points, 2004-07) and Paula Price (122 points, 2007-10).
Scranton's Cassie Mullen capped the scoring with 3:34 showing on the game clock, scoring an insurance goal with a flick past Howard to give the Lady Royals a 3-1 advantage. Laura Megargel was credited with an assist on the marker.
Howard finished the night with one save in the Juniata cage. Marandino, who was on the receiving end of Juniata's 17-9 dominance in shots and 8-4 advantage in shots on goal, recorded seven saves. The Eagles enjoyed an upper hand in penalty corners, 14-4.
The loss was the fourth straight for Juniata – it's longest winless streak since dropping six-in-a-row during the 2008 season, when the Eagles posted a 9-12 record and captured the program's second Landmark title.
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