INDIANA, Pa. — The Marauders opened up their conference schedule with a 3–2 win over the Indiana Crimson Hawks. The win moves Millersville to a 4–3 record overall on the season.
The theme of the game's offense was penalty corners, as four of the five goals were created off of them. The Crimson Hawks got on the board first, breaking through early in the opening frame off a penalty corner goal from Cassie Romanczuk. However, the Marauders pushed back the entire first half and applied heavy pressure right before halftime. A foul during a penalty corner by the Crimson Hawks led to a penalty stroke for Millersville, and
Emily Buss buried the chance to even the game before the break.
Millersville kept the chances coming, creating more chances off of corners in the second half. Early in the third quarter,
Morgan Lennon received the pass from
Saige Shine off a corner, then dodged to the right of the net, threw a pass out front that found the stick of
Daina Thomson to put the Marauders ahead 2–1. Shortly after, the Marauders were knocking on the door again with another penalty corner. This time, Shine finished the chance after a redirect try from Buss was kicked out, and the rebound landed right in front of her to slam it home.
Indiana made a strong push at the end, getting another goal from Romanczuk with a little over five minutes left, but Millersville's defense was able to hold on. The Marauders withstood two penalty corners and a yellow card in the final five minutes to win 3–2. Millersville will look to start stacking wins as its schedule picks up, with a test against No. 1 Shippensburg next on the docket at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at Biemesderfer Stadium.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- In the first game between the two teams earlier in the season, the Crimson Hawks held a decisive advantage in the box score in the offensive stat categories. However, the Marauders created more opportunities this time despite Indiana still holding the advantages on the stat sheet.
- The Crimson Hawks led in shot attempts 16–9, but Millersville put more shots on target, 5–4.
- Indiana led in penalty corners 14–6, turning up the pressure in the second half when they held a 9–4 advantage in the third and fourth quarters.
- Romanczuk led all players in shots on goal with three, while Buss led the Marauders with 2. Buss' second attempt on goal ended up rebounding to Shine, registering as an assist.
GAME NOTES
- The Marauders are now 31–17–1 against the Crimson Hawks and have won 12 of the last 14 matchups since 2014.
POSTGAME REACTION FROM HEAD COACH SHELLY BEHRENS
Opening thoughts on the win: "It's a good conference win, especially on the road. It's good to finish September with a win too, but I'm just really proud of the kids for their work too. It was an early game, and I thought the key to our success today was staying together when things didn't go our way and working through that."
On how the first game against IUP helped prepare the team: "One, they're a very talented team and they never give up. They're persevering, they're determined, but we thought we could get some goals on them and go from there. I'm really proud of our corner team, they did a good job today. We had
Emily Buss on the penalty stroke,
Daina Thomson on the second, and
Saige Shine on the third. I saw some great determination on our end in the circle off the penalty corners."
On getting ready for conference play: "I love PSAC field hockey. It makes us better, and I think we bring out the best in each other. We played a really great opponent today and we're going to enjoy this for the next 24 hours, but then it's back to work. Whether we win or lose a game, we have to get right back at it. They really did a good job today. I thought the second and third quarters were good for us, got a little close at the end, but I really like that we scored three goals on the road."
