Delmarva Christian field hockey bulldozes Bulldogs 2-1

Following a scoreless first half that ended with senior captain Hayley Jones getting whacked with the ball, Delmarva Christian struck twice after the break to upend Laurel 2-1 Sept. 27.

The Bulldogs packed the circle against the Royals, leading to a lot of possession but not as many shots as they would have liked.

“They had like their whole team in the circle, so, was a little uneven with numbers,” said senior Eve Bohinski. “We did pretty good realizing how they were playing, going against that and finding our own way.”

Delmarva Christian generated chances in the first half, but could not crack the code. Unfortunately, the sound of a crack of one of the Laurel sticks was followed by a homing missile that found the leg of senior captain Hayley Jones. The injury led to the halftime whistle and allowed a tough Jones to recover.

During a corner in the third quarter, Jones got her chance for redemption after being the inserter. She set up shop in front of the goal and tucked away the opening goal after freshman Anaiah Mulhern’s shot was blocked.

“We've been working really hard on making sure our passes are connecting and working on our corners,” Jones said. “I think we really fought hard today, and we played our best.”

Laurel bit back with a goal to make it a 1-1 tie heading into the fourth. Jones was struck by another drive from the Bulldogs. This time it looked like she would have to sit out the remainder of the game. Not knowing if her teammate would return, Bohinski took it upon herself to take the lead for the Royals.

“After Haley got hurt ... I was, like, ‘OK, this needs to go in,’ so I just kept pushing,” Bohinski said.

With a 2-1 lead in hand, Jones returned to the field to make sure Delmarva Christian would be victorious.

“She's really stepped up, and she's given a lot of heart, and she's given everything she has,” said coach Laura Balback. “I love coaching her, and I'm sad to see her go, but that really helps rally the entire team: senior leaders lead.”

Defensively, the girls allowed only two shots, as the senior backline of Alyse Potter, Libby Dawson and Chloe Wilkerson helped keep things away from Carsyn Riddle’s goal. Sophomore Braelyn Hellens was joined in the midfield by freshman MaryKate Dougherty and Addison Price to control the heart of the pitch.

“I'm very proud of their play; we all pulled together, we had great passes, our communication was good and we gave the extra effort to pull out the win,” Balback said.