Cape field hockey defeats Dover 3-0
The Cape field hockey team finished its regular season Oct. 29 with a 3-0 shutout of the host Senators on Dover’s Senior Night.
The Vikings used their finesse and ball-control skills to shut down the physicality of the Senators.
After a Cape shot hit a Dover defensive player behind the goalie, Reagan Ciabattoni put the awarded penalty stroke past keeper Richana Brown at 9:08, giving the Vikings the only score they needed.
Ciabattoni added an insurance goal off a drive from the top of the circle by Cami Smith at 24:48.
Noelle Sabbagh slammed a shot from Emily Monigle at 8:30 left to extend the Vikings’ lead to 3-0.
Cape outshot the Senators 11-2 and held a 16-3 edge in penalty corners.
Brown had six saves for Dover, while Cape’s Julie Heffernan posted one stop.
“Going into this game we were feeling confident,” said sophomore Ella Rishko. “We’ve been playing real well lately, but Dover is a really good team, so we were a little nervous. I think working against a physical team like Dover will help us going into the game with Delmar, who know how to use their strength to increase their level of play.”
The Vikings will face Delmar in the Henlopen Conference Championship at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 2, at Sussex Academy.
“I definitely think this will help us on Saturday on keeping our composure and not retaliate against physical play,” Smith said. “We need to slow down our play and work on our individual play rather than just frantically move the ball around.”
“I think that we held our own tonight,” said Cape coach Kate Austin. “Every team we are going to see – Delmar on Saturday and anyone in the tournament – will be physical because you have to be at this point. We held our own with that. I was a little worried because we’re not the most physical team. We usually rely on the technical part, but they stood up to it and they were good.”
