Dialog reporter
WILMINGTON – Charter used a two-goal flurry early in the second half to power past Ursuline in a 3-1 nonconference field hockey match Wednesday afternoon. The Force won their second straight and evened their record at 7-7.
Senior Jordan Wood scored twice for the Force. The first came off a penalty corner with 20:38 left in the game, when Wood deflected a shot by classmate Sarah Groves into the cage. Charter had several long drives during the game, and less than two minutes later, the Force cashed in again. This time, senior Katherine Chitty took possession of a free hit and buried her shot for a 2-1 lead with 18:54 to go. Wood picked up the assist.
Charter kept the offensive pressure on for nearly the entire second half, preventing the Raiders from mounting much of a comeback effort. Ursuline goalkeeper Kate Casey kept the score 2-1 with several saves.
The Force extended the lead to two with 7:27 left in the contest on Wood’s second tally of the afternoon. Charter stole the ball from Ursuline and earned a penalty corner. Groves sent the ball to Wood, who wound up near the top of the circle and knocked one to the right of Casey. Charter’s stingy defense would assure that the Raiders would not be making a comeback.
Ursuline did open the scoring near the end of the first half when senior Maddie Jablonski deflected one past Force goalkeeper Henna Castle with just 23 seconds to go. Castle had made one save, but she could not stop Jablonski’s second chance. Senior Caroline Steele picked up the assist.
The Force outshot the Raiders, 10-7, and had seven penalty corners to Ursuline’s four. Ursuline, ranked ninth in the state by Delaware Sports Zone, finished the regular season with a record of 10-4-1, winning eight of its last 10. The Raiders will be in the state tournament, which begins next week. Charter has one more game remaining, and it will be Thursday at home vs. Padua at 3:30 p.m.
