Athletics

Field Hockey, Women’s Soccer Landmark Conference Titles Headline Successful Fall Season

In a fall that saw each eligible University of Scranton athletic team qualify for the Landmark Conference playoffs, the performances by the field hockey and women’s soccer teams headlined another successful opening stanza to the 2019-20 academic year for the Department of Athletics.

First, the Royals field hockey team did something that, as a program, they had never done: win the Landmark Conference.

Entering postseason play with an 11-7 overall mark and the top seed in the field, the Royals blitzed past Elizabethtown and Susquehanna to win their first Landmark title in program history. With the win, the Royals also nabbed a spot into the NCAA Division III Tournament field for the first time since 1997.

The selection was also historic in another way, as the Royals hosted MIT at Weiss Field on Nov. 13, marking the very first NCAA Postseason event hosted by the University at the Quinn Athletics Campus.

Despite falling in the match, 3-0, the 2019 Royals field hockey team left their mark. In end-of-the-year awards, the field hockey team had five student-athletes named to All-Landmark Conference teams, as head coach Colleen Moyer was named the conference’s Coach of the Year, as well.

Not to be outdone was the performance the women’s soccer team put together over the final month of the season.

Entering the Landmark Conference playoffs as the number three seed, women’s soccer went on the road and avenged regular season defeats to Elizabethtown and Susquehanna to capture their third Landmark title in four years and the seventh in program history.

The win catapulted the Royals into the NCAA Division III Tournament, where in the first round, they got past previously unbeaten Centre on penalty kicks after the match remained tied at 3-3 after 110 minutes of action. In PK’s, Scranton advanced, 5-4.

In the second round against host Ohio Northern, the Royals fought hard all match, keeping Ohio Northern off the scoreboard for 110 minutes. But, in a penalty kick scenario for the second straight day, Ohio Northern advanced over the Royals by a 4-2 ledger.

Finishing with a final 12-5-4 and with another Landmark Conference title and NCAA Tournament appearance down, the Royals women’s soccer team cleaned up in All-Landmark Conference award honors, with six players earning either First or Second Team accolades.

One of the Royals’ First Team selections was defender Rebecca Russo, who was also named the Landmark Conference’s Senior Scholar-Athlete for women’s soccer, as she boasts a 3.89 GPA as a nursing major.

Youthful Volleyball Squad Win 15 Matches, Heads Back to Landmark Playoffs

The Royals volleyball team returned to the Landmark Conference semifinals in 2019, making the field for the seventh straight season. Freshman sensation Carah Vitkus, who was named to the All-Landmark Conference Second Team after her first collegiate season, led the Royals to 15 victories.

Men’s Soccer Returns to Landmark Conference Playoffs

The men’s soccer team returned to the Landmark Conference playoffs this past season, finishing the year with an 11-5-2 overall mark. Posting a 6-1 ledger in Landmark Conference action, Scranton returned to the Landmark playoffs for the first time since 2016, hosting a semifinal match at Weiss Field for the first time in program history.

Awards wise, the Royals had five players earn All-Landmark Conference honors, paced by freshman forward Christian Arcos, who was named the Landmark’s Rookie of the Year and was an All-Landmark First Team pick at his position.

Cross Country Teams Race into Top Four in Landmark Conference

The men’s and women’s cross country teams once again registered top-four finishes at the Landmark Conference Championships, which were held in early November in Maryland.

There, the men’s team finished in fourth place overall for the second straight season. Leading the Royals was junior Jack Patwell, who placed 17th overall in the event. Meanwhile, the Royals women’s team finished third in their half of the Landmark Conference Championships, improving from a fifth place finish a season ago.

Leading the Royals in the event were All-Landmark Conference selections sophomore Jessica Hoffmann and junior Rachel Kerr. Hoffmann, who finished seventh at the Landmark Championship, was an All-Landmark First Team selection, while Kerr, who placed 10th, was a Second Team pick.

See more photos, visit scranton.edu/journalextras.