CLAYMONT — On Senior Day for Archmere’s field hockey team, the Auks celebrated their seven 12th-graders with a 6-0 shutout of Delaware Military Academy. One of those seniors, Emma Gioffre, scored two of the goals, while the others belonged to Archmere’s youth movement.
There was a distinct lack of offense early on, with Seahawks goalkeeper Ashlee Feeley keeping the game scoreless with some key saves. DMA picked up its lone penalty corner of the game with four minutes to go in the quarter, but nothing came of it. The Auks needed until the final minute to get on the scoreboard, as sophomore Carly Polsky deflected a shot by Bella Dell’Oso into the cage.
Archmere turned up the pressure as the second quarter opened, but the DMA defense minimized the scoring chances. The Auks kept the heat on, and Gioffre got on the board with 8:50 to go when she sent a slow roller to Feeley’s left.
Feeley made a bunch of saves in the closing minutes of the half, including a nice kick rejection of a one-on-one encounter with Polsky. The rebound went out near the top of the scoring circle, where freshman Sarah Dahms’ turnaround roller went through several pairs of feet and into the net with just 18 seconds left until halftime.
The Auks turned some defensive pressure into an early second-half goal for Polsky. Gioffre added her second of the game with 8:09 remaining in the third after a scramble in front of the netminder. Maura Read, another sophomore, closed out the scoring in the fourth quarter.
The Auks had advantages of 35-5 in shots and 9-1 in penalty corners. Ava Hughes had five saves as Archmere (10-0) posted its ninth clean sheet of the year. Next up is a showdown with Smyrna on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Rullo Stadium at the University of Delaware, part of the annual Turf Bowl.
DMA received 29 saves from Feeley. The Seahawks fell to 7-2 and meet Concord at 5 p.m. Friday in the Turf Bowl.
All photos by Mike Lang.
