HUNTINGDON, Pa. – After the University of Scranton dashed the Eagles hopes of making the Landmark Conference Tournament, Juniata field hockey (9-9, 3-3 Landmark) returned the favor by defeating the Royals 5-4 in overtime Sunday afternoon at home. Scranton (11-6, 4-2 Landmark) said goodbye to its chances at hosting the postseason tournament, dropping from the No. 1 seed to the third place team.
"Crazy good game," said Juniata Head Coach Caroline Gillich. "It was a big battle. We knew what was in it for them and we knew what we wanted to do anyway."
The Eagles pulled out the win despite being down a player in the final five minutes due to a yellow card.
"It was exciting to see a man down in overtime, which we have never done before, we could just gut it out," added Gillich. "We have seen them getting tougher and stronger and playing better together as a team and today really showed the toughness of this team."
It was senior day on Goodman Field and the Eagles 2012 class played huge roles on the day.
Senior Caroline Phillips (Wilmington, Del./Concord) made the most of her last home game of the season.
"Caroline was our quarterback today," said Gillich. "She was making things happen left and right."
Phillips had an assist and scored two goals, including the game winner with 54 seconds remaining in overtime.
"I heard it hit the post," said Phillips of the final shot. "But then I heard [the official] blow the whistle and I was like, we won. I just feel really happy because we ended with a win and a .500 record. Now there's the potential to go on."
This is the second straight game she has scored two goals and her fifth multi-goal game of the year. Phillips leads the team with 11 goals and is among the conference's goal leaders. She also leads the team with 24 points.
The Eagles offense outshot Scranton 27-11 in the game, earning 18 corners to the Royals 12. It was the fourth time this year that Juniata has scored five or more goals.
Sophomore Kortney Showers (Aspers, Pa./Biglerville) opened scoring in the 27th minute. Senior Jill McNeish (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield Area) added to the Eagles offense. She scored her second goal of the season in the 32nd minute to give Juniata the 2-0 lead.
Up 2-1 in the second half, the Eagles scored back-to-back goals to go up 4-1. Freshman Sara Bilheimer (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom) picked up her sixth goal of the season in the 48th minute. She is third on the team in points with 17. Phillips scored her first goal less than five minutes later on a penalty stroke. She is 3-for-3 on strokes this year.
Scranton made a hard push at the end of regulation. They scored three goals with less than seven minutes to play, the last two in the final 2:08 to force overtime.
But the Eagles outshot Scranton 8-4 in overtime, earning four more corners, to provide their opportunity to score the game winner.
Juniata plays the waiting game next. The Eagles are hoping their 9-9 record and strong schedule are enough to get them into the Eastern Colleges Athletic Conference (ECAC) postseason tournament. They would be playing out of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the ECAC.
"We are a dark horse hoping to emerge," said Gillich. "Hopefully people see that this is a young team that graduated 12, had a long way to go but made it and they are here and they are ready and they want to play. This is not a team that is ready to be done"
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