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It was a beautiful fall afternoon last Monday, Oct. 6, at Legends Stadium, as the undefeated Cape field hockey team walked to the halftime huddle down 2-0 to the 6-0-2 Red Lion Christian Lions. It was only the second time this season the Vikings had been behind and the first time they were down by two goals.
Melissa LeNoir, a dangerous and elusive forward, scored a pair of unassisted first-half goals - one off a corner - at 23:25 and 5:40, both rising fastballs cranked from out front where goalie Tori Bunting had no chance to stop them.
Thirty minutes of relentless second-half pressure saw Cape score goals by Abbey Hilligoss at 26:51, Caroline Judge at 17:45 and Chelsea Reed the game winner at 10:36 off an assist from Abbey Hilligoss for a 3-2 hard-earned Cape victory raising the season record to 9-0.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the girls for the character they showed,” said Cape head coach Nicole Catanzaro. “Most teams would have shut down or quit, both physically and mentally; however, the girls decided to rise to the challenge - better to happen later than not at all. It was something that Hilary Merlo said while cheering on one of her teammates that sparked a halftime come-from-behind win. She said, ‘Go hard or go home!’ That is going to be my personal mantra for the rest of the season.”
Cape came crazy into the second half stepping up the intensity with the backs to the wall. Rebecca Pepper sent a shot onto the goalie that rebounded to Caroline Judge whose shot was kicked to Abbey Hilligoss who sent it home for the score as Cape trailed 2-1 with 26:47 left in the half.
“We were not happy at halftime and knew we had to step it up,” Hilligoss said.
Judge tied the game at 17:53 on a close shot that just ended up on her stick. “It was a relief to be back tied with a chance to win,” Judge said. “Goals can be hard to come by.”
LeNoir, the Red Lion striker wearing No. 1, kept pressure on the Cape defense and for the most part Kara Voss, Kelly Smith and Jesse Dmiterchik kept her from shooting on goalie Veronica D’Amico.
But with less than eight minutes remaining it was LeNoir on the girl they call V LO and down she went making a real save with her pads and preserving the tie.
“I knew where she was and knew the time was coming when I would just have to stop her,” D’Amico said.
Devon Price later made a great play winning a ball in the midfield and sending it to the offense where Abby Hilligoss found Chelsea Reed for the game winner.
“No time to worry, just keep playing hard,” Reed said, surprised to hear her goal was considered the game winner. “The only winner I care about is Cape Henlopen.”
Milford will visit Cape at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11, bringing more drama than a Clear Space Production.
NOTES - The Cape JV field hockey defeated Laurel 3-0 on Wednesday, Oct 8. The girls had to make some adjustments from turf to grass, but they managed to pull off the win with their aggressive style of play. Goals were scored by Taylor Trimmer (1) assisted by Jenna Steele, Erin Ricker from a penalty shot and Alexa Hendrickson (1).
Cape JV beat Red Lion 6-0 on Monday, Oct. 6.
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