Worcester lax girls run one back at Cape 10-8
Fighting Mallards sometimes bite, and April 18 down to Worcester Prep, they nibbled Cape to bits.
Thirteen Worcester Prep seniors on a team which Cape coach P.J. Kesmodel called their “most talented team ever” finally got the best of Cape, winning on the green grass of home 10-8.
The Vikings had beaten Worcester five straight years at Worcester including two games on goals in the final seconds in 2009 by Alec Perry and 2013 by Anna Frederick.
Just before the game, coach Kesmodel said, “We have to get the draw and play great defense, and Sam [Broadhurst, goalie] has to play well. I know if we have the ball we can score.”
Cape coughed up the ball repeatedly in the first half, failing to clear and simply throwing it away, and the Vikings trailed 5-1 at halftime. Lizzie Frederick scored the Vikings' only goal on a free position.
The Mallards struck early on a pair of goals by Lilly Dinardo straight from point to post and another from Meg Lingo for a 3-0 advantage.
Cape answered with the Frederick goal, but Dinardo and Kristen Schriver scored before the half to make the score 5-1.
‘We didn’t shoot well in the first half, and their goalie, Maddie Pilchard [12 saves], made some big saves,” Kesmodel said. ‘But we came back in the second half and gave ourselves a chance to win it.”
Karalyn Joseph, Sarah Tappan (2) and Allie Yeager scored early in the second half while Dinardo snapped again, making the score 6-4.
Worcester attack assassins Schriver and Dinardo and Molly Soule fattened the lead to 9-4, but unanswered goals by Yeager, Tappan and Brown brought the game back to a close 9-7 with under five minutes to play.
A Sophie Brennan goal provided a 10-7 cushion; Tappan answered to make it 10-8, which was the final.
“Our main goal is always to win the Delaware state tournament,” Kesmodel said after the game. "The last two games we lost in games we’ve won in the past, but when you play really good teams [Manheim Township and Worcester], you have to execute.”
Cape will stay feet to the fire on a brutal schedule, hosting Queen Anne’s County Saturday, April 26, then Polytech Tuesday, April 29, before seeing Bishop Ireton out of D.C. Thursday, May 2.
Mallards goals were scored by Dinardo with 5, Schriver with 2, and Lingo and Soule with single goals.
Cape goals were scored by Sarah Tappan 3, Allie Yeager 2, Karalyn Joseph, Jordan Brown and Lizzie Frederick.
Cape outshot Worcester 27-17 in the contest.
