Cape Henlopen, Delmar, and Pocomoke win field hockey championships
DELMARVA – A trifecta of field hockey championships were secured by our schools Saturday. Cape Henlopen and Delmar each won their respective titles in Delaware, while Pocomoke secured a 3-1 win over Patuxent in the MPSSAA 1A title game.
Delmar began the day with a tight 4-3 win over Wilmington Friends.
Jordyn Hollamon supplied the first three goals for Delmar, but the teams remained tied late into the contest. Laela Brown’s tally with 2:56 remaining in the game proved to be the game-winner.
“This is the hardest we’ve ever had to work for a state championship. It wasn’t just strolling into the state championship and knowing we were going to win,” said Hollamon, a senior with Delmar. “We knew that we were going to have to work every single game, and work in practice ever single day to get here, and we did, and that’s why we won.”
“It was up and down. We scored two goals and got a little relaxed,” head coach Jodi Hollamon said after the Wildcats’ ninth-straight championship win. “We kept letting them come back and letting them hang on. And to show that we could handle all of that pressure at the end really is a testament to these kids.”
The Division-I championship game featured Henlopen North rivals Cape Henlopen and Smyrna for the fourth straight year.
Emily Wells scored on a penalty shot as time expired in the first half to put Cape in the driver’s seat.
Smyrna went reeling in the third quarter when a series of yellow cards sidelined two players, including the team’s leader, Bree Moffett.
Cape Henlopen capitalized on the man advantage with a goal from Teagan Baker, but the Eagles remained alive thanks to a score from Addison Beamer.
The Eagles had a few near-misses in the final minutes with Moffett back on the field, but the Vikings held on for back-to-back titles.
“I think that they responded well to everything today,” Cape head coach Kate Austin said. “From the bleachers to the cards that were given out really freely today, everything going on. Just to keep your composure and rely on each other. The people on the field and the energy on the sideline, that’s impressive.”
And in Maryland, Pocomoke defeated Patuxent in the 1A championship game at Stevenson University. It’s the third title in four years for the Warriors, and the 22nd in program history.
