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Hockey Semis |
in 4-1 Quarterfinal Win
Photos: Cape's Maren Ford (top), Elizabeth Pratt (middle) and Amanda Warrington (bottom). GEORGETOWN -- Cape Henlopen High School field hockey coach Ruth Skoglund had a question for her team at halftime of its state tournament quarterfinal game with Concord on Saturday, Nov. 10.
The answer was a resounding "No", if the Vikings' three unanswered goals and utter domination of the second half of their 4-1 victory at Sussex Tech were any indication. The second-seeded Vikings, sparked by Casey Cahill's two goals, broke open a 1-1 halftime tie in the second half to advance to the state Final Four at the University of Delaware's Rullo Stadium for the second year in a row. The 17-1 Vikings will play sixth-seeded St. Mark's in the semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 14. The game has been scheduled for 5 p.m., with the other semifinal between Tower Hill and Caravel slated for 7 p.m. Against 10th-seeded Concord, the Vikings outshot the Raiders 9-2 in the first half but had to settle for a 1-1 tie thanks to sophomore Concord goalie Jen Harding's 5 saves.
The Vikings began to assert themselves from the start of the second half but it wasn't until 18:33 remained in the game that Lauren Mazzotta finally gave Cape the lead for good off the first of Maren Ford's two assists. Five minutes later, with 13:31 left, the Vikings put some breathing room between themselves and the Raiders with an unassisted goal by Amanda Warrington. They then iced the win when Cahill scored the second of her two goals off an assist from Ford with 4:06 to go.
Concord, however, began to assert itself after that and eventually tied the score on a goal by Amy Dencker off a feed from Caitlin Meara at the 24:56 mark of the half. Cape finished with a 23-2 advantage in shots and an 18-7 edge in penalty corners. Harding recorded 13 saves for Concord. Concord ended its season with a 12-4-2 record. The Raiders defeated William Penn 3-1 in the first round.
First Half: 24:32 -- CAPE HENLOPEN (1-0 Cape) 5:04 -- CONCORD (1-1) 18:33 -- CAPE HENLOPEN (2-1 Cape) 13:31 -- CAPE HENLOPEN (3-1 Cape) 4:06 -- CAPE HENLOPEN (4-1 Cape) Shots -- Cape Henlopen 23, Concord 2. Penalty Corners -- Cape Henlopen 18, Concord 7. Saves -- Nicole Rhoades (CH) 2, Jen Harding (C) 13.
Cape Henlopen head coach Ruth Skoglund on what she said at halftime: "Basically, I just said this is a brand new ballgame. The score is 1-1. You've either got to step it up or your season's going to end today. They weren't ready for it to end yet. They picked up the pace and we were able to convert some more goals and push forward to get some balls in the cage. Casey (Cahill) stepped up for us today. They knew they had to put it in the cage, so that's what they did in the second half." Cape Henlopen senior forward Casey Cahill on the win: "It feels great (reaching the semifinals again). We knew coming in it was going to be a very tough game and we had to play hard." Cahill on the Vikings' surge in the second half: "We figured the second half was a whole new ballgame and we had to come out there strong, stronger than they did. And we did. That was tough. We all knew we had to pull it together and play Cape hockey." Cahill on scoring two goals: "With all of our players, it's not just one person who always scores. It's a variety of people. If a defense tries to mark just one or two people, we have someone else there to put it in the cage."
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"Do you want your season to end today?" she asked.
But realizing their season was on the line, the Vikings completely dominated the second half as they ripped off 14 shots to Concord's none.
Cahill gave the Vikings a 1-0 lead in the first half on an unassisted goal with 24:32 left in the half.
