For The Dialog
NEWARK — Junior Katie Buczik scored early in the first half and the goal held up as the fifth-ranked Padua Pandas held off Ursuline, 1-0, on Oct. 1 at Rullo Stadium at the University of Delaware, part of the annual Turf Bowl.
The Pandas controlled the play in the first half and had some early penalty corners. Jill Sherman almost converted one 10 minutes in but was stopped by goalkeeper Sarah Taylor, who made three great saves in the first half.
Two minutes later Buczik beat Taylor to the far side off another penalty corner for the 1-0 lead.
The Raiders had a hard time getting their offense going in the first half against the Pandas’ stingy defense, but Lindsay Brown did get a shot just wide with less than three minutes to go in the half.
Ursuline got some quality chances in the second half and also earned four penalty corners in the first 20 minutes of the half. Pandas goalie Hailey Power turned away Brown early, then made a great save off a shot from Anna Shearer with 13 minutes left.
The Pandas almost added an insurance goal off a penalty corner but Taylor made a diving stop. The Raiders had one more chance on a penalty corner with two minutes left, but the Pandas defense cleared the ball out of harm’s way.
The Pandas improved to 6-0 and travel to sixth-ranked Caravel on Friday night at 7:15 p.m. for some prime-time field hockey. The Raiders dropped their second straight, losing both by a goal. They host No. 7 Friends on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
