MILLTOWN — Saint Mark’s scored four first-period goals, and that was more than enough in a 6-0 field hockey victory over Concord on Oct. 4. It was the Spartans’ sixth consecutive win.
After a few minutes of play in the middle of the field, the Spartans, ranked fourth in Division II by Delaware Live Sports, went on their first real offensive drive, and they capitalized. Emersyn O’Leary scored on a crossing pass from Keiran Haywood to make it 1-0 with 10:10 left in the first.
O’Leary scored again at the 6:07 mark. This time, the junior sent a blast past Raiders goalie Sarah McDowell. O’Leary was involved in the third goal as well. She intercepted a Concord pass around midfield and began the advance back upfield. She eventually sent the ball toward the scoring circle, and one Saint Mark’s shot was rejected by McDowell. But Lani Papa was there to pounce on the rebound and send it into the open cage with 4:52 remaining.
Eighty seconds later, a Spartan wound up with a shot from just outside the circle. The ball was deflected high into the air, and Haywood swatted it down, where it glanced off a Concord defender and in.
The Spartans earned several penalty corners during the second quarter, but McDowell made a number of stops to keep the margin at four goals. The lone goal came with 8:22 to go in the half when Brynn Eyler tipped in a shot.
Mackenzie Fanning had the final goal of the afternoon on a second-chance opportunity midway through the third.
Final statistics were not available early Friday morning. The Spartans (6-1) are home on Friday at 3:45 p.m. against St. Georges, while Concord (4-3), Delaware Live’s sixth-ranked Division II team, hosts Dickinson on Friday at 3:30 p.m.
All photos by Mike Lang.
