TEANECK, N.J.- In a valiant attempt to spoil Sacred Heart's quest to repeat as NEC regular season champions, FDU's upset bid fell short by a score of 10-7 at the hands of the Pioneers on Saturday afternoon.
Thanks to two goals from
Jordan Santana, who had celebrated her senior day in the pregame ceremonies, the Knights snagged a 2-1 lead after the first period of play.
Santana continues to be a spark for FDU, as she has now scored in all 13 games as a Knight. She finished with a season-high three goals and now has 16 on the season. She had two assists in this one to bring that total to 14 for the year.
The teams traded a pair of goals to open the second quarter, with
Riley Eaton cashing in her 19
th goal of the season that put FDU in front, 3-2. The Pioneers snatched back control with two unanswered goals to put them ahead 4-3 at the break.
The Knights managed to hang in with the Pioneers despite being outshot by nine and committing twice as many turnovers in the first half.
These areas caught up to FDU when Sacred heart held them scoreless in the third quarter, dominating possession and scoring five more goals to extend their lead to six.
FDU settled in during the fourth quarter and made Sacred Heart work to close out the game. FDU got goals from Santana, Eaton,
Addie Weidner, and
Lindsey Felician in the frame and held Sacred Heart to one goal. Unfortunately, the Knights comeback effort was too little too late, as the Pios held on for a 10-7 win.
Felician's goal marked her 10
th of the season, becoming the fifth Knight to hit double-digits in goals this year. Eaton now sits at 20 goals, which is tied for the team lead.
In the end, FDU was outshot by 23 and committed ten more turnovers than their opposition.
Skylar Goodman put together her top performance of the season making a career-best 17 saves.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Knights play their final home game of the season against Wagner on Wednesday, April 10, at 2 p.m. The game will be aired on NEC Front Row.
