Pocomoke Field Hockey headed back to title game

The illustrious Pocomoke Field Hockey program made its first trip back to the state championship game, defeating Manchester Valley 3-0 at Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville, MD, in the 1A state semifinal Wednesday night.

After a 7-0 win over Queen Anne’s in the regional final, the Warriors offense looked as if they would roll again, keeping possession and getting off shot after shot early on. A couple of dead on stops by Manchester Valley goalkeeper Jacie Wood would keep Pocomoke off the board, and the game scoreless.

That scoreless game held up until Pocomoke drew a penalty stroke when a shot went off a Mavericks defender’s leg. Lexi Butler stepped up and pushed a high shot over Wood, marking the game’s first score with 6:51 left in the first half, a lead the Warriors would take into halftime.

In the second half, Pocomoke again came out strong, attacking on defense, and being aggressive on offense. That eagerness paid off a little earlier in the second half, when Dani Batze lifted a great shot into the top corner of the goal, with 23:18 to go in the second half. With a 2-0 lead, Pocomoke began to play the possession game, while Manchester Valley would get some great shots of there own, all that were turned away from the Pocomoke defense, led by goalkeeper Domanique Farrace.

After back and forth attempts, Pocomoke would add more insurance when Kasey Lee found the back of the cage off a pass from Peyton Becker. The Warriors move on to take on 1A South Regional Champions Patuxent, who defeated Patterson Mill in the second regional final.  This is PocomokeThat game is set for Saturday at 6:30 at Washington College.