Cape field hockey wins at Polytech 1-0 on late goal by Ella Rishko
A damp bermuda field of screaming green, softly contrasted with dark grey clouds overhead, produced a pretty field hockey game under ugly conditions Oct. 11 in Woodside. Cape got after Polytech for 60 minutes, cracking the code and goalie Holly Rembold with 4:37 left to play when freshman Ella Rishko wrapped the ball around the goalie and pushed it into a tight space near the post to score unassisted. Rishko was just moved to forward three games ago from defense.
The win pushed Cape to a record of 8-1 with all wins by shutout, while the Panthers fell to 7-2, losing their second one-goal game in three days. They lost at Smyrna Tuesday 2-1 in overtime.
Cape ran the field all game, producing 24 shots and earning 17 corners while holding the Panthers to two shots and no corners. It was a game for the whippets and grinders, those zero-fat up-and-down middies who seemed not to tire in the rainforest climate, along with the defensive backline of Marcella Sabbagh, Anna Stancofski and Reagan Ciabattoni, who realized one whiff on a rolling hockey ball could cost their team the game.
“I had to make my first real save in like four games when a ball got to my pads late in the game,” said goalie Marlee Geppert.
The defenders just do their job, and it’s not about any one person, said Ciabattoni. “Just keep grinding,” added Stancofski and Sabbagh.
And on the other end, Polytech senior Holly Rembold had 21 saves of every variety, from low to high and all angles.
“I told our players to be patient inside the circle, that you have to move a good goalie, and our freshman Ella got it done,” said coach Kate Austin.
The win keeps Cape in position for a top seed in the postseason Division I eight-team tournament with 9 of 15 games played. Padua, Cape, Charter, Polytech, Concord, Middletown, Smyrna and Sussex Tech currently hold the top eight spots. Cape will host Smyrna Tuesday, Oct. 23, and play at Padua on Saturday, Oct. 27.
Cape’s midfield players Darby Klopp, Emily Monigle, Jackie Cannon and Alia Marshall all ran hard the entire game controlling field position for Cape.
Mairead McKibbin and Mackenzie Estrada played strong games for the Panthers.
Cape will host Milford Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 6 p.m., and Polytech will play Caesar Rodney at 4 p.m., Oct. 16 at DE Turf.
