Shippensburg University field hockey won its NCAA Division II quarterfinal match against Saint Anselm at Robb Sports Complex on Saturday.
The Raiders beat last year’s champions 3-0, a score similar to when the two teams met earlier this year. In September, SU defeated the Hawks 4-0 in a neutral-site game at Widener.
During Saturday’s contest, the first quarter highlighted the strong defensive skills from both teams that led them to win their own conference titles. Last week, the Raiders claimed their second-straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference title, and Saint Anselm won its Northeast-10 Conference tournament.
Shippensburg pulled ahead offensively in the second quarter, forcing the Hawks’ defense to crumble.
The Raiders scored their first goal when senior Agus Garibaldi maneuvered around three defenders and lifted the ball on the reverse side of her stick past the goalie.
Then, in the last minute of the quarter, SU was awarded a penalty stroke after a Saint Anselm defender got in the way of another Raider point.
Junior Kayla Snyder took the stroke and pushed the ball into the bottom left corner of the cage to make the score 2-0.
In the fourth quarter, SU added an insurance goal with a little less than three minutes on the clock. Junior Carme Caracotche Picone capitalized on a penalty corner when she shot the ball after receiving it on the insert from sophomore Elaina Fragassi, making the final score 3-0.
The Raiders move on to play Kutztown for the semi-finals on Friday afternoon at Bloomsburg. If victorious, they will play in the national championship on Sunday.
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