NEWBERRY, S.C. - For the second straight season, the Lander Field Hockey team found themselves in a close-knit affair with the Belmont Abbey Crusaders in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament quarterfinals and for the second straight year, a second quarter goal proved to be the difference as four-seed Lander came away with another 1-0 win on Halloween night at Setzler Field.
Lander improves to 11-6 while Belmont Abbey ends their season at 7-10.
Just like in the first matchup between the two teams this season on September 16th, the Bearcats found themselves on the front foot often but could not solve the puzzle of Chloe Parker who made eight more saves on the night.
However, just over two minutes into the second quarter a Merle Vieregge (Düsseldorf, Germany) cross found Lauren Punt (Maasdam, Netherlands) who slotted it home for her sixth goal of the year to give Lander the 1-0 lead.
From there it was all about the Lander defense who only allowed the Crusaders to shoot once in the entire contest in the second quarter. Belmont Abbey only managed two shots total against the Bearcats in the two contests between the teams this year.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Crusaders pulled Parker in order to try to get some momentum with an extra attacker but they couldn't get a solid chance as Lander emerged with the 1-0 scoreline.
The Lander Field Hockey team advances to the South Atlantic Conference Field Hockey Championship semifinals against top-seeded Mount Olive on Friday in Mount Olive, N.C. The Bearcats and Trojans will meet in the first semifinal at 2:00 PM while Limestone, who emerged from the other quarterfinal on Tuesday, will face second-seeded Newberry at 5:00 PM. The game will be streamed live on FloSports.
