Dialog reporter
WILMINGTON – Ursuline took a lead late in the first half, snuck in a goal early in the second, then withstood a furious comeback bid by St. Mark’s in a 2-1 win in Catholic Conference field hockey on Thursday afternoon. It was the Raiders’ seventh win in their last eight games.
The Raiders (9-3-1) owned the first half, but despite their 8-2 advantage shots, they could do no better than a 1-0 lead at the break. That goal came late, with 3:26 to go in the half, after a penalty corner. There was no shot directly off the inbounds pass, but Ursuline kept the ball inside the scoring circle, and after a lengthy scramble, senior Madelyn Jablonski found herself alone with the ball behind Spartans senior goalkeeper Gillian Bruce. Freshman Caroline Taylor picked up the assist.
The Spartans (2-10) picked up their two first-half penalty corners in quick succession after the goal. Both resulted in opportunities, the first of which was a shot on goal booted out by Raiders senior keeper Kate Casey, and the second a shot cleared by an Ursuline defender.
St. Mark’s continued with the chances into the second half. During one two-minute stretch six minutes in, the Spartans had five penalty corners, none of which they converted. After that blitz, Ursuline had one of its rare second-half rushes. Senior Nina Budischak picked up a loose ball near the top of the circle to Bruce’s left and blistered a shot into the cage to double the Raiders’ advantage with 21:09 to go,
The Spartans applied relentless offensive pressure after that goal, and with 8:15 on the clock their persistence paid off. Sophomore Kendra Schweizer took a pass from classmate Emily Collins and sent one through traffic, making the score 2-1. That’s the way it would end.
The teams finished with 10 shots each, and the Raiders doubled up St. Mark’s in penalty corners, 12 to six. Ursuline finishes up the regular season next week with a pair of home games. Padua visits Serviam Field on Tuesday at 3:45 p.m., while Charter is the opponent Wednesday at 3:30. St. Mark’s will host Tatnall this Saturday at 11 a.m.
