Cape hockey program shows strength on Youth Night
It was Youth Night Oct. 24 at Champions Stadium, as the Cape varsity and JV teams hosted Sussex Tech. The bad moon rising and the sun slowly sinking served as a metaphor for each program.
Cape won the JV game 3-0, closing out the season 10-1 with nine shutouts. Cape then won the varsity game 8-0, improving to 13-1 on the season with 11 shutouts.
Both middle school teams, Beacon and Mariner, had members in the bleachers. Beacon is 7-0 and currently unscored upon, while Mariner is 6-0-2 with five shutouts.
Beacon and Mariner will battle each other at Champions Stadium at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 1.
Next up for Cape is Senior Night Thursday, Oct. 26, when the Vikings host Sussex Central. Cape will graduate 11 talented players; at least seven are bound for Division I programs in field hockey or lacrosse. But the program will barely wobble.
There are 26 players on the junior varsity squad, including nine sophomores. The two middle schools will send 22 freshmen into the program next season.
The stat line for the Vikings’ varsity shutout of the Ravens was a barrage of Cape shots on goal versus none for Sussex Tech. Cape held a 23-0 advantage in penalty corners.
Ravens goalie Bryannah Coral had a spectacular performance, stopping shots at all levels, some hard and high that had defenders ducking. The Ravens were game and played hard, but the Cape assault was just relentless, including scoring three goals in the final period.
Grace Wiggins and Hannah Maney each had two goals, while Atia Sabbagh, Nora Block, Addy Basile and Lulu Rishko each had one goal.
Wiggins and Devon DeGregory each had a pair of assists, while Basile, Macy Steinwedel and Mairead Rishko had single assists.
Rylie Cathcart had two goals in the JV game, while Addison Breneman scored her goal less than a minute into the game. Addison Wood had an assist.
Izzy Mekulski and Jada White shared goaltending duties.
Corner convos - The JV team’s lone loss was 1-0 at Tower Hill Sept. 30 in a game where Cape outshot the Hillers 11-2 with a 13-1 advantage in penalty corners. Clara Buller of Tower Hill had four saves in that game; the goal was scored in the second quarter by Cecelia Clough. The Division I state tournament is just eight teams. The quarterfinals begin Thursday, Nov. 2 at the site of the higher seed. The semifinals and finals are at the University of Delaware. This may be the first postseason since field hockey split into two divisions (2017) that neither Cape nor Delmar is a No. 1 seed. Smyrna currently sits at No. 1 in Division I, while Newark Charter is at the top of Division II. Cape appears to be on a semifinal collision course with Milford if both survive quarterfinal-round games. Cape varsity lost at Tower Hill in the 2016 quarterfinal round 2-0. It was the first Cape loss to a Delaware opponent in 100 games. Cape beat Sussex Tech 1-0 in the 2017 state final. Sussex Tech won state titles in 2009 and 2010.
