WILMINGTON — Ursuline put a ton of pressure on the St. Georges Hawks in the first half of their field hockey matchup on Sept. 18 at Serviam Field, and it paid off in the form of two first-half goals that constituted the only scoring in a 2-0 Raiders victory.
The Raiders owned possession for most of the first half, but it took a while before they were able to solve the Hawks’ defense. Ursuline earned four penalty corners in the first quarter, but only the last one resulted in an opportunity, a shot that went wide. Hawks goalie Addison Weismiller made one save, on a shot from Samantha Weinert.
The Raiders broke through in the middle of the second quarter. After a restart, Kendall Gulli sent the ball into the scoring circle, where it got behind Weismiller. Weinert was there to knock the ball into the open net for the 1-0 lead with 5:11 left in the half.
Ursuline doubled its lead about three and a half minutes later. Gulli fired a high shot, and Weismiller and Raiders attacker Molly Anderson (St. Helena Parish) both attempted to get a piece of it. Neither did, and the ball found its way into the cage. Weinert was credited with the assist.
Raiders goalie Jess Kulenguskey (St. John the Beloved Parish) made her first save in the final minute of the half, and the Hawks closed that half out with their first penalty corner.
St. Georges had the ball for much longer stretches in the second half, but neither team could score. Kulenguskey made a pair of saves on two Hawks corner opportunities in the third. There was little offensive pressure from either team in the fourth, which was fine with the Raiders, who won their second consecutive game.
The Raiders had a 6-4 shot advantage. Each team had four penalty corners. Kulenguskey earned her first shutout of the season. Ursuline (2-3) will play the second of four straight at home when Sanford visits on Sept. 25 at 3:45 p.m.
For the Hawks, Weismiller had four saves. St. Georges (0-4) are home against Christiana on Friday at 3:45 p.m.
Photos by Mike Lang.
