ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- In a potential Landmark Conference playoff preview, the Elizabethtown College field hockey team and Scranton went at it for 90 minutes Saturday afternoon at Wolf Field. After two scoreless overtimes, a shootout was necessary to decide the winner and E-town came away with the victory after Margo Donlin forced a missed shot to end the game and give the Blue Jays their ninth straight win, 2-1.

Scranton (11-3, 3-2 Landmark) came at the Blue Jays early on and forced Donlin into her first save of the game. She had to be ready for Nicolette Keale's chance at 4:22 and she was, stopping the shot.

Elizabethtown (12-2, 5-0 Landmark) then began to control the play and earned multiple penalty corners. In the 14th minute, Olivia Beachley had an opportunity near the left post, but the ball was stopped by a Royals' defender and kept out. Not too long after, the Blue Jays caught Scranton on their heels and made the pay for it. Maggie Fees had the ball in the midfield on the Scranton side of the field and laced a pass up toward goal. Brooke Zehr made a darting run into the circle and into the path of the ball, reached out her stick, and redirected the ball past the goalie and into the cage. The goal was her second of the season and Fees' fifth assist of the year.

Donlin came up with an important play near the end of the first half. Keale and Grace McClatchy, the Landmark's leading goal scorer, were on a 2-on-0 counter attack with only Donlin left to beat. The ball was coming down the right side and as Keale delivered the cross over to McClatchy, Donlin read it the entire way and stepped up near the top of the circle to deflect the ball with her pads and divert it away from the E-town goal.

Out of halftime and down 1-0, Scranton ramped up the pressure as the half went along seeking the game-tying goal. The Royals had a pair of shots early in the half blocked as much of the play was between the circles. Attacks from each side were snuffed out by the opposing defense. Scranton did manage to keep Elizabethtown without a shot in the second half, but the Blue Jays maintained their 1-0 lead through most of it.

Katherine McVeagh inserted a corner with less than three minutes to go and on the ensuing play, a defensive save was needed on an initial shot by Grace McClatchy, but McVeagh was right there to pounce on the loose ball and shove it into the cage to tie the game at 1-1 with 2:21 to go in regulation and force overtime.

Elizabethtown started with the ball and had three early penalty corners, but Scranton was able to survive them and get a few of their own on the other end. Donlin made two important saves in the first overtime period to prevent the sudden death winner, so another OT period was needed. Fees had a look after an Elizabethtown penalty corner was awarded, but the shot just missed wide left of the cage.

The Blue Jays had a premium opportunity with only 21 seconds left in overtime and a chance to win it. A penalty stroke was given and goalie Jenna Cyr watched as it missed to her right to keep the game going. Neither side could get a shot off in those remaining 21 seconds as the game moved to a shootout.

Elizabethtown was first to go in the shootout. The first shooters for each side both missed. Brooke Zehr was the second up for E-town. She went left and then came back right and swept the ball into the right of the cage. Allie Benadon answered for Scranton, scoring on her attempt to make it 1-1 after two rounds. Each side missed their third-round opportunities. Donlin cut down the angle on the third attempt and the ball clanged off the post. Fees' calm, cool, and collected effort in the fourth round gave the Jays a 2-1 advantage. The senior started going left, back right, and as the goalie dove, she lifted the ball up, over, and into the cage. Scranton missed on their fourth try so the fifth shooter for Elizabethtown could win it with a goal. Cyr got the stop and extended the shootout to the Royals' fifth shooter. Donlin was poised as she dribbled in on her goal, stayed with the ball and forced it into a tight angle for the shooter. Donlin sprawled out and the shot went outside to the right of the cage and gave Elizabethtown the 2-1 win in the shootout.

The win moved Elizabethtown to 5-0 in the Landmark Conference and assured the Blue Jays of a home semifinal come playoff time. E-town will jump out of conference on Wednesday, October 17th, when Swarthmore pays a visit to Wolf Field at 4:30 p.m.