WILMINGTON — It was senior day for Ursuline girls lacrosse on May 13 at Serviam Field, and the Raiders took care of business with a 17-5 win over Brandywine. But aside from the goals, the Raiders celebrated the young lady whose job these past three years has been to stop shots, not take them.
Late in the second quarter, senior goalie Lucy Copeland made her third save of the afternoon. The clock stopped, and the Ursuline players on the field and on the bench surrounded Copeland (Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish) for recording her 300th career save.
Copeland spent her freshman year playing softball, but she switched to lacrosse as a sophomore and has been a fixture in net since. Brandywine solved her a few times over the remaining half-plus, but not nearly enough to overcome the Ursuline offense.
The Raiders took the lead for good with 9:43 remaining in the first quarter. Caroline Coen took a pass from behind Bulldogs goalie Emily Clayton and sent a one-timer high into the net. That was the first of six consecutive Raiders goals.
Ursuline won the draw after Coen’s goal, and Elizabeth Songle capitalized, scoring on a turnaround shot just 26 seconds later. That was it until Coen scored again with three and a half minutes left in the first. Clayton kept the Raiders’ lead at three with a pair of high-quality saves.
Ursuline controlled possession through most of the second quarter as they grew their lead. Elise Hopkins scored her second of the afternoon less than a minute in, and Coen picked up her hat trick at the 7:58 mark. Adeline Scopio hit a wide-open net following a steal a few minutes later. After Copeland’s 300th, the Bulldogs ended the Ursuline scoring streak at six with two straight of their own, one each from Minako Hunt and Faith Sandouno.
The teams traded the first four goals of the third quarter, but the Raiders had the final three tallies of the quarter, getting them in a stretch of 1:56. They also had the only three goals of the fourth quarter.
Coen and Hopkins led the way with four goals each, while Songle added three. Ursuline (7-7) wraps up the regular season on Thursday at Wilmington Charter at 3:30 p.m.
Sandouno topped Brandywine with three goals. This was the regular-season finale for the Bulldogs, who finished 6-9.
Photos by Mike Lang.
