Home Local Sports Kenney’s goal, three assists lead Ursuline to field hockey victory

Kenney’s goal, three assists lead Ursuline to field hockey victory

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Jordan Kenney gets her stick on this shot, and it would end up in the net for Ursuline's first goal. (The Dialog/Mike Lang)

NEW CASTLE — Jordan Kenney scored once and added three assists to lead Ursuline to a hard-fought 4-0 victory at William Penn in nonconference field hockey Oct. 15.

The game was scoreless at halftime despite an overwhelming advantage in shots and penalty corners for the Raiders. The Colonials’ defense tightened nearly every time the visitors got into the scoring circle, and on Ursuline’s best shot, William Penn goalkeeper Schuler Stark was in position to deny the offense. Toward the end of the first half, Jane Lyons lifted a shot over the defense, but Stark was able to get her stick on it over her head and to her left.

Schuler Stark of William Penn goes high to her left to keep this Ursuline shot out of the cage. (The Dialog/Mike Lang)

The keeper also dove and slid to stop several other shots, and that continued into the second half as the Raiders — ranked fourth in Division II — turned up the offensive pressure. A three-on-one attack for Ursuline fizzled early in the second, and just after that, two more chances were unsuccessful. The second of those was deflected by the Colonials over the end line, resulting in a penalty corner. The result of that corner was one shot off a post and another blocked by a defender.

Lyons hit the crossbar shortly thereafter, and Stark kept other chances out of the net. She added a pair of saves on another Raiders corner opportunity, but finally, with 14:12 remaining in the contest, Kenney broke through. Off a penalty corner, Lyons sent the ball toward the net, and Kenney was able to redirect it into the cage for the 1-0 lead.

Kenney fed Caroline Taylor exactly three minutes after the first goal, and Taylor deposited a turnaround shot behind Stark to double the advantage. Less than a minute passed before Kenney deked around a defender and found herself alone in front of Stark. The keeper blocked one shot, but Kenney took the rebound and found Anna Shearer six feet away with nothing but an empty net in front of her.

Lyons wrapped up the scoring with 4:26 to go.

The Raiders had 18 penalty corners to one for the Colonials, and they had 18 shots to none for the opponent. Ursuline improved to 8-1 and visits the second-ranked team in Division II, Caravel, at 3:30 p.m.

William Penn (3-6-2) remains home for a visit from Middletown on Wednesday at 3:45 p.m.