WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The Wilkes University field hockey team fell in a close game to the University of Scranton Royals 2-0 Wednesday night at Schmidt Stadium.

The Colonels are now 8-9 overall and 3-4 in Landmark Conference play with two games remaining in the regular season, while the Royals move to 13-3 and a perfect 7-0 in conference play.

Scranton came out of the gates swinging with 13 shot attempts in the first quarter compared to just one for Wilkes. The constant pressure on the Colonel defense paid off just over a minute into the game when Annie Shaw got the Royals on the board with her 15th goal of the season.

The Royals kept the offense on the attack for the entire second quarter with another 12 shot attempts, while the Colonels managed just one shot again. Wilkes surrendered another goal at 19:19 when Lydia Bechtel increased the Scranton lead to 2-0.

That would be all the scoring for the rest of the game. The Colonels defense continued to play well in the second half as Scranton managed just 10 shots for the final 30 minutes, but Wilkes could only get one shot off during that time and Scranton held on for the win.

The Colonels were outshot 35-3 for the game, including 20-1 in shots on goal, and forced just one penalty corner while the Royals forced 10. Taylor Bower (Bloomsburg, PA/Bloomsburg) had Wilkes' only shot on goal, but Maddie Karp (Pittston, PA/Pittston Area) led the team in shots taken with two. Goalkeeper Chloe Gilroy (Manchester, NH/Pace University) had arguably her most impressive outing of the season with 17 saves in net, and kept the Colonels within striking distance all game.

Wilkes is now the seventh seed in the Landmark Conference and are looking for a much-needed win in their next game. They'll take on the Moravian University Greyhounds at home on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 1 p.m.