WILMINGTON — After Ursuline had tied their season-opening field hockey game with Padua late in the third quarter on Sept. 9, the Raiders had several opportunities to take the lead. They did not, and the Pandas made their rivals pay in overtime, as Scarlett Walther scored on a penalty corner to give Padua a 2-1 lead on a warm afternoon on the turf at the Chase Fieldhouse.
Walther took a pass from Avery Heist and fired into the back left corner, bringing the Pandas running on to the field. That followed two Raiders corners earlier in the overtime period, both of which were rejected by the Pandas.
It was all Padua early in the contest. They earned two penalty corners, with Raiders goalie Georgia Rassias (Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish) making saves on each one, but a rebound after the second ended up on the stick of Emily Hill. She sent a ball high into the cage for the 1-0 lead with 6:21 remaining in the first quarter.
The Pandas sent a few shots wide throughout the rest of the first half, but they could not add to their advantage. Ursuline picked up its first penalty corner late in the half, only to see Padua goalie Molly Murphy keep the ball out with a diving poke.
Ursuline had the momentum in an uneventful third quarter, and that continued into the fourth. Early on, the Raiders picked up a ground ball near midfield, and Calee Burns got inside the scoring circle and chipped a ball past Murphy to tie it up.
The Pandas regained possession and put the pressure for several minutes before Ursuline wrapped up regulation with four penalty corners. Rassias and Murphy were solid in their respective nets in the closing minutes of regulation.
Padua had a 14-11 advantage in shots, although the Raiders had nine penalty corners to the Pandas’ five. Murphy had seven saves, and her team contributed three defensive saves. The Pandas (1-0) are back at the fieldhouse on Friday at 3:30 p.m. against Delaware Military.
Rassias stopped 11 shots for Ursuline (0-1), who hosts Saint Mark’s on Friday at 4 p.m. in their home opener.
Photos by Mike Lang.
