Dialog reporter
CLAYMONT – The weather on the afternoon of Oct. 12 took a turn toward the cool side, but the Archmere field hockey team’s offense was cooking. The Auks controlled the ball from the get-go and scored a 4-0 win over Newark Charter in Diamond State Athletic Conference action.
The visiting Patriots earned an early penalty corner, but after that it was all Auks. Archmere had six penalty corners in the first 13 minutes of the game and nearly scored three times on the first five of those, as one shot clanged off the post, another was sent over the net and a third resulted in a kick save for Newark Charter keeper Madison Soyer. They finally found the back of the cage on the sixth, as Olivia Baldi ripped a shot from the top of the circle at the 16:45 mark.
Baldi struck again with 5:48 to go in the half. This time, she wound up near the edge of the scoring circle, and her shot was deflected by a Patriots defender. Unfortunately for Newark Charter, the ball went high into the air and over the keeper, doubling the Auks’ lead.
Soyer kept her team close as the first half would down, stoning Caroline Donovan from close range with a terrific glove save, then adding a kick save on a rebound.
Archmere (6-2-1) came out of intermission looking to extend the lead, but Soyer was equal. She was called on to make a pair of saves resulting from an Auks penalty corner nine minutes into the second half.
Donovan got her goal at the 16:30 mark. She picked off a Patriots pass in the crease, chipped the ball around a defender and sent it in low to the right of the keeper. Newark Charter had three second-half penalty corners but could not score, and Archmere’s Delaney Dearing closed out the scoring with 2:34 to go, picking up a loose ball on the end line and tapping it in.
Archmere outshot the Patriots, 24-3, and had 11 penalty corners to five for the Patriots. Auks keeper Mady McDougal had her fifth consecutive shutout and sixth of the season. The Auks, 4-0-1 in their last five, travel to Red Lion on Monday for a 3:45 p.m. start.
The Patriots fell to 5-6. They play Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Sanford.
