SCRANTON, Pa. – The No. 3 seed University of Scranton field hockey team (15-3) scored a pair of goals in the first quarter and never looked back en route to a 5-0 victory over the No. 6 seed Wilkes University Colonels (9-9) in Landmark Conference first round action on Saturday night at Weiss Field in Scranton.

With the victory, the Royals advance to face No. 2 seed Catholic in semifinal action on Wednesday night in Washington, D.C. with start time slated for 7 p.m.

Scranton opened the scoring in the 11th minute as sophomore Julia Downing backhanded a shot from inside the circle and beat Wilkes goalie Carly Eidle for an early 1-0 lead.

Senior Cori Davis extended the lead just 0:51 later as she collected a rebound at the near post following a penalty corner and buried the first of her two goals on the night. In the second quarter, Wilkes saw a pair of chances but junior goalie Gianna Travia denied a shot by Cortney Keim in the 21st minute and fellow junior Lauren Franco added a defensive save in the 24th minute to keep it a two-goal game for the being. Less than a minute later, the Colonels added a defensive save of their own on a shot by senior Katie Redding and the score remained 2-0 at the half.

The Royals were able to hold Wilkes without a shot in the third quarter and continued to hold the 2-0 lead through three. Davis struck for her second of the game in the 49th minute and Redding found the back of the cage in the 52nd minute after a feed by sophomore Annie Shaw to extend the lead to 4-0. In the 54th minute, freshman Ava de Natale took a pass from sophomore Annie Hohl in the circle and completed the scoring.

Head coach Colleen Moyer's team held a decisive 15-3 shot advantage led by four apiece from Redding and fellow senior Bridger Abraldes. Travia registered one save en route to her sixth shutout of the season.

A full preview of Wednesday's semifinal game will be posted on Tuesday at athletics.scranton.edu.