WILMINGTON — St. Elizabeth’s field hockey team played a strong second half on Nov. 1 at Dickinson, but in the end, the Vikings came up just short. The Rams took a 2-0 lead and held on for the 2-1 victory.
Chloe Gustafson rolled the ball over the goal line with three minutes remaining in the first half as Dickinson to give the Rams the lead heading into the break. The play was made possible after St. Elizabeth was unable to clear the ball from their defensive end on two occasions.
Dickinson had the only three penalty corners of the half and most of the possession, but that was the only goal. The Vikings’ played well, especially after a steal by Maya Pedro led to a shot that was blocked by a St. Elizabeth player. The Rams’ final corner of the half came with no time left on the clock, but the Vikings eventually were able to gain possession and bring the half to its conclusion.
St. Elizabeth came out aggressively in the third quarter, and it showed early. Maddie Shields turned a steal into a shot that was knocked over the end line, and the Vikings finally picked up a penalty corner. The applied consistent pressure on Dickinson but just couldn’t get shots on net.
Dickinson had limited offensive opportunities in the third, but they took advantage with time running down. After a restart, Ava Drahusz parked herself near the front right corner of the cage, and Jessica Silver threaded a pass through a crowded scoring circle to her, and Drahusz knocked it in.
The Vikings continued their pressure game into the fourth, and on their second penalty corner of the period, they got on the board. Mackenzie Hilferty took the inbounds pass, and her pass was redirected in by Megan Chapman, who had set up shot to the keeper’s right. The Vikings’ best chance to tie came later on another penalty corner, but their shot was just wide.
No statistics were available Monday evening. Dickinson (5-8) play their final game on Wednesday at Seaford at 4 p.m. The Vikings (2-11) finish their season on Tuesday at Christiana, with game time at 3:45 p.m.
All photos by Mike Lang.
