MILLERSVILLE, Pa. — The Millersville field hockey team defeated Maryville on Sunday afternoon by the score of 3–0. The Marauders improved to 6–4 with the shutout victory.
Play did not begin to pick up until the second quarter after neither team created any significant chances in the opening 15 minutes. Millersville was awarded a penalty corner about five minutes into the period for the game's first chance.
Emma Ruley had two cracks at a goal, getting stopped by Maryville goalkeeper JoJo Cox on the first shot, and then by Riley Monroe who made a defensive save. However, the Marauders got a penalty stroke immediately after, and
Emily Buss cashed in for her sixth goal of the season to put Millersville ahead 1–0. Towards the end of the quarter, the Marauders had another chance at a goal off a penalty corner.
Morgan Lennon had the ball on the right side of the arc and sent it across to
Emma Ruley who was able to one-time it home and double Millersville's lead right before halftime.
With a two-goal lead heading into the second half, a third goal would seemingly put the game out of reach. The Marauders pressed for that mark and created an opportunity six minutes into the third quarter.
Emily Buss had the ball near the left post, and rather than take the shot herself, she centered it into a crowd in the middle of the arc. The ball got to
Daina Thomson first, who settled it and sent an extra pass to
Paige Webster, who shot it into a wide-open net to put Millersville up by three. Millersville controlled the rest of the game, not giving up any chances to Maryville while coming close to extending its lead, but the final score would hold 3–0.
The Marauders have now won consecutive games for the first time since they started the season 2–0, and will look to continue stringing together wins with a road game against East Stroudsburg next on the schedule. The Warriors will host the Marauders at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 9 in East Stroudsburg, Pa.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Despite not registering a shot in the first quarter, the Marauders had the advantage in the offensive categories in the box score. Millersville outshot Maryville 12–10 and put 10 shots on goal to Maryville's two, and also had a 7–5 edge in penalty corners.
- Ruley led all players in shots on goal in the game with three.
- Kerstin Koons made two saves through the first three quarters to earn credit for the win, and Payton Killian made her first appearance for the final 15 minutes to preserve the three-goal lead.
POSTGAME REACTION FROM HEAD COACH SHELLY BEHRENS
- Overall thoughts on the win: "I think playing three games in five days is challenging, and credit to Maryville for playing a back-to-back. For us, we were able to get some more people in the game, but I'm looking for us to be sharper in the midfield and coming out of our backfield. We did create some good opportunities and finished well today, so those are some positives to draw from that."
- On if the team is hitting its stride: "I think that September sets you up and October leads you to conference play. This being a non-conference game, we got to dig in and do some different things. I think so, but we'll see. We're going to enjoy this good home win for 24 hours, we got some people back from injury, so we'll take this and enjoy it for the day."
- On the team's confidence entering another stretch of conference games: "They're not satisfied. It's never the same game twice. I think for our players, we're still growing. And sometimes growth can be small and a little painful. I know we all want it to be a quicker process, but it has been helpful continuing to get better and go after great opponents like we have next on Wednesday."