PIKE CREEK — The St. Elizabeth and McKean field hockey teams played through moderate rain in both the second and fourth quarters, but the Vikings didn’t seem to mind after earning a 9-0 win in their season opener on Sept. 11. They are 1-0 for the first time since 2018.
Playing with three freshmen in the lineup, St. Elizabeth controlled the play from the opening whistle. They applied pressure all afternoon, generating penalty corner opportunities, and they struck first off a corner three and a half minutes in. Taking the inbounds pass, Mackenzie Hilferty sent a pass to Gia Cutler, and the freshman backhanded the ball past the goalie for the 1-0 lead.
Maddie Shields also capitalized on a penalty corner, knocking a third-chance shot over the line at the 8:08 mark. Shelds added another goal before the first ended, with Hilferty getting her second assist.
The Highlanders were able to get the ball deep into Vikings territory in the last minute of the quarter, but the Vikings’ defense cleared the ball out of the scoring circle before McKean could generate a shot.
The rain came in the second quarter, but the Vikings managed two more goals. The McKean goalie made a few saves early in the stanza, but Hilferty struck from the top of the circle six minutes in. Hilferty added a third assist on a goal by Samantha Shields later in the half.
Maddie Shields finished with three goals, while Hilferty had two to go along with her three assists. Cutler also had two goals. Danielle Yezek had the team’s other goal. The Vikings finished with 23 shots and 15 penalty corners. They play Christiana on Wednesday at 3:45 p.m. The game will be at Christiana, but St. Elizabeth will be the home team.
McKean (0-1) hosts Odessa on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
All photos by Mike Lang.
