19th-ranked field hockey blanks Moravian, 2-0, to improve to 3-0 in Landmark

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Juniata College field hockey dominated visiting Moravian College in the shot count, and found the back of the cage twice on its way to a 2-0 shutout of the visiting Greyhounds, Saturday afternoon on Winton Hill Field.

19th-ranked Juniata (8-2, 3-0 Landmark) had a commanding 23-2 supremacy on shots, and an equally impressive 18-3 advantage in penalty corners. But a tenacious Moravian (5-5, 0-3 Landmark) back line thwarted several impressive individual runs by Juniata forwards Shauna Deschenes (Duncannon, Pa./Susquenita) and Kara Buda (Franklin, N.J./Wallkill Valley) early in the opening half.

The Eagles' best scoring opportunity early came just under 12 minutes into the game. Midfielder Meg McGlone (Coopersburg, Pa./Southern Lehigh) carried the ball deep into the corner to the left of Moravian goalie Andrea Eck, and blasted a centering pass right across the goal mouth. However no Juniata player could reach the ball for a deflection into the goal, and the pass sailed harmlessly into the opposite corner.

Juniata finally solved Eck with 4:42 remaining in the opening frame - finally beating the Greyhound goalie on a scrum right in front of the Greyhound cage, ironically enough, after several cleanly executed penalty corner plays and some other nifty passing sequences failed to produce a goal.

Eagle midfielder Emma Dahmus (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) blasted a shot at the cage from just outside the scoring circle off a penalty corner, which Buda tried to roof into the Moravian cage. Eck batted the shot out of the air, and Deschenes' attempt on the loose rebound went off the post. Senior back Molly Snyder (Boalsburg, Pa./State College Area) finally got a stick on the ball, and beat Eck low for the unassisted goal, her first of the season and seventh of her career.

Juniata's 1-0 lead lasted into the second half, as the Greyhounds survived a flurry of seven Eagle shots in the first 10 minutes of play. Buda had the best of those early Juniata scoring opportunities, with a low shot off a penalty corner play barely five minutes into the frame. Moravian back Stephanie Pezzello rescued the Greyhounds with a defensive save on Buda's attempt, firing the ball off to the right of Moravian cage.

The Eagles finally doubled up their score with an insurance goal in the game's final minute, as Deschenes pulled the ball away from an outstretched Eck, and flipped over her stick to flick the ball into the right side of the cage.

Eck tallied four saves on the afternoon in the Moravian cage, while Juniata goalie Janelle Howard (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) did not record a single official save.

Juniata faces Alvernia University on Tuesday, Oct. 11, at 4:00 p.m. in Reading, Pa. The Eagles return home next Saturday, Oct. 15, to host Catholic University of America in a Landmark Conference match. That game will also mark Senior Day for 11 Juniata seniors: Deschenes, Buda, McGlone, Snyder, Sara Pomanti (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin), Brittany Kauffman (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove), Vicky Thornton (Millington, N.J./Watchung Hills), Ellen Santa Maria (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven), Kelly O'Shea (Delran, N.J./Delran), Kim Amrod (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield), and Caitlyn Bowman (Seven Valleys, Pa./Dallastown).

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