Dialog reporter
ALAPOCAS – Defense was the order of the day on Sept. 26 when Archmere visited Wilmington Friends for a nonconference field hockey match, as the Auks scored the only two goals of the afternoon for the 2-0 victory. It was the first Archmere game this season decided by more than a single goal, and it came against an unbeaten Quakers squad that had been averaging four goals per contest.
The game took place mostly in the middle of the field during a scoreless first half. The Auks’ best opportunity came with 2:55 to go when Lauren Ross’ shot was blocked by a defender at the goal line.
Friends dominated possession once the second half commenced, but the Auks’ defense did not break. Archmere regained some equilibrium as the half wore on, and Ross had another opportunity about 12 minutes in, beating two defenders after picking up a steal. Friends keeper Isabella Bukowski kept the zeroes on the scoreboard with a nice kick save off Ross.
Ross’ persistence paid off midway through the half. This time, she parked herself in front of the cage, and after a shot by Olivia Baldi was stopped by a defender, Ross poked at the loose ball several times until she was able to send it about four inches over the goal line.
“It went over, but barely,” she said.
The Archmere tally seemed to energize the Quakers, who would spend nearly all of the next 12 minutes in the Auks’ half of the field. The Quakers earned several penalty corners but could not convert as Archmere was able to prevent too many quality offensive chances. Anna Erskine did connect on a shot off a penalty corner, but McDougal was able to knock that one away with about 14 minutes to go.
Ross said her team is starting to figure everything out, but some fouls caused by aggressive play led to the Quakers getting all those corners.
The chances kept coming, but Archmere held on to the slim lead. Finally, with the clock winding down, the Auks took advantage of some rare posession time. Baldi and Meghan Reilly led a charge upfield, and Baldi was able to get a shot on Bukowski. The keeper made the initial save, but Reilly was there to fire home the rebound, giving the Auks a valuable insurance goal.
The Quakers would pick up two more penalty corners, but they could not convert. Friends had 12 corners to Archmere’s three, and the home team outshot the Auks, 9-4.
“It’s a really great win. We worked really hard and prepared for this game coming in knowing they were undefeated and that we weren’t playing on turf. Today, we really bumped up the communication on our passes and upped our game knowing the challenge was going to be tough today,” Ross said.
The Auks (3-2) are back at home Friday at 3:45 p.m. for a homecoming weekend tussle with St. Elizabeth. Friends (4-1), playing for the first time in a week, is off another seven days before hosting Wilmington Christian on Oct. 3 at 3:45 p.m.
