The crossroads where jubilation meets despondency. Smyrna players dogpiled after Bree Moffett’s sudden-victory goal in the final minute of double overtime secured a 1-0 victory over Cape in the Nov. 7 state championship at the University of Delaware.

The Cape players slowly walked away to the sidelines. The torridly paced, high-stakes game where every hit mattered came to an abrupt stop. 

An announcement from the press box was made before the game, "Always looking for refs.” Ironically, there were hundreds of them in the Rullo Stadium stands, and half of them were unhappy. 

Cape had two goals waved off with no explanation offered. There is a team referral system in place for college field hockey for video review, but no such system is used for high school state championship games played at college venues.

The script wasn’t flipped, but eerily run back with Bree Moffett scoring the overtime goal versus Cape twice this season, and in 2022, the Eagles winning in the finals on a sudden-death overtime goal by Kristen Johnson on an assist from Dru Moffett.

Smyrna, like Cape, puts 11 quality athletes on the field and plays a loosey-goosey, let’s-rock-and-roll style of field hockey. Both programs have dominated Division I state opponents over the last five years; they’ve only slowed down when they’ve collided with each other. 

Cape had the advantage in corners and mostly controlled the flow and field position of the Nov. 7 game. Both goalies – Nora O’Connell of Smyrna and Izzy Mekulski of Cape – made big saves in crucial moments, but there were not many quality shots by either team.

The Vikings had 16 shutouts going into the final, and for 79 minutes, they had another. 

Notes - Smyrna graduates 10 seniors while Cape graduates five. Cape coach Kate Austin leads Delaware with 11 state championship wins. Cape defender Ellen Ramsey went down in the second overtime concussed and confused. She was taken to nearby Christiana Hospital where she was evaluated, scanned and later released. Coach Loveita Moffett  won her second state championship at Smyrna while having lost three times to Cape. Robin Adair, when coaching Tower Hill, was 10-7 in state finals. Jodi Hollamon, head coach of the Delmar power house teams, won nine state titles. Hollamon and Delmar also lost in the finals four times to Cape.