CLAYMONT – Archmere’s field hockey team tied Wilmington Charter late in regulation on Oct. 2 on a skilled backhanded shot, then got the win midway through the second overtime with more stick-handling wizardry, earning a 3-2 win. It was the Auks’ sixth win in their last seven games.
The end came dramatically. On an Archmere penalty corner with five and a half minutes remaining, Maura Read (St. Mary of the Assumption Parish) took the inbounds pass from Kirsten Wenger and swung, but her shot was partially stopped. She followed the ball, which had rolled a few feet forward, and shot again. This time, the Force deflected the shot, and it appeared to be headed wide left. But Bernadette Patino (St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Glen Mills, Pa.), the only freshman on the roster, was stationed at that side of the cage, and she connected on a waist-high one-timer, sending the ball into the back of the cage and ending the contest.
It was an exciting end to a game that featured a bunch of big saves and near-misses all afternoon. The visiting Force watched as Auks goalie Caeli McAlonan stopped three shots early, and Archmere took an early lead on one of its few chances in the first quarter. On a counter, Sarah Dahms passed down the left side to Layla Clark, who sent the ball into the scoring circle. Both the ball and Carly Polsky (St. Mary of the Assumption Parish) got behind Charter goalie Larysa Pohorylo, and Polsky rolled it into the open cage with 5:32 remaining.
The Force nearly leveled the score early in the second, deflecting a shot off the crossbar, but they didn’t miss on their next chance. On a penalty corner, the Force sent a shot toward McAlonan, and in the resulting scrum, Elizabeth Terranova was able to push it through traffic for a goal. The Force had the momentum for much of the rest of the first half, but the game remained tied, 1-1, at the break.
Wilmington Charter continued to get the better of the offensive chances into the second half, but the Auks’ defense, led by Emma Morda (St. Michael’s Parish, Gibbstown, N.J.), kept them at bay. McAlonan and the Auks fought off several corners, but with about three and a half minutes to go in the third, the Force capitalized on one. Alexa Guarneri fired a shot through traffic to put her team on top, 2-1.
The Auks spent the rest of regulation trying to notch the tying goal. They nearly scored with a minute to go in the third, but a shot was swept away by a Force defender as it danced along the goal line. They struggled against a stingy Charter defense through the first seven minutes of the fourth, and Pohorylo came up with several key stops resulting from some penalty corners, including a big kick save of a shot by Read.
Archmere played shorthanded for two minutes late in regulation, but they found one last offensive rush. Read took a pass from Morda following a steal and rushed up the middle of the field. She worked her way into the circle to the right of Pohorylo and whipped a backhanded shot high into the cage, tying the game with 1:55 to go.
The Auks tried to close it out in dramatic fashion in regulation, but Pohorylo stopped a shot from Dahms with three seconds left on the clock.
The overtime sessions, which are 10-minute golden-goal situations, were a whir of back-and-forth play as each team was reduced to six players and the goalies. Charter had the best chance in the first OT on a penalty corner as time expired. Play is not dead until a goal is scored or the defense takes possession, and it took a McAlonan save, followed by a scrum, before the Auks knocked the ball away.
Polsky had the ball in front of Pohorylo in the first minute of the second overtime, but somehow she was kept off the scoreboard. Polsky tried again with six minutes to go, but the goalie stopped the shot from point-blank range, and the rebound was sent wide. Patino made sure the next time had a different result.
Archmere had a 15-13 shot advantage, although the Force earned 10 penalty corners to the Auks’ 7. McAlonan finished with 11 saves. The Auks (6-3) meet Padua on Oct. 8 at the Chase Fieldhouse at 3:45 p.m.
For the Force, Pohorylo stopped 11 shots. Charter fell to 7-2 and visits Delaware Military on Friday at 3:45 p.m.
Photos by Mike Lang.
