WILMINGTON — Padua, ranked second in the state in Division I field hockey by 302Sports, had the edge in specialty plays, and that was the key in their 3-2 win over the Charter School of Wilmington on Nov. 10.
The Force did strike first four minutes in o the contest as Ellery Underhill gave the home team a 1-0 lead. The Pandas answered six minutes later as Julianna Balon fed a nice pass to Sophia Curtis, and she hammered it home to tie the game at one.
The Pandas controlled the play in the second quarter, but Force goalkeeper Autumn Shahan had the answers to keep it tied. Padua almost broke the tie on a penalty corner, but Balon was stoned by Shahan. Balon would have her own answer and scored on a mini-breakaway to give the Pandas a 2-1 lead with five minutes left in the half.
Charter came out in control as the second half opened and equalized less than three minutes as Marie Brainard gathered a loose ball in the crease area and found the back of the cage, The game changed in the next three minutes as the Pandas’ defense didn’t allow a shot during two penalty corners, Then the Pandas would strike on their penalty corner as Chloe Wenner scored for the second time in as many days, this time depositing the game-winner past Shahan. The Pandas had a few more dangerous penatly corners, but Shahan had a couple nice saves.
The Pandas (7-1) had a 12-7 advantage in shots and a 9-5 margin in penalty corners. The Pandas will have senior day on Thursday as they host Concord at 3:15 p.m., but the game will be played at Concord.
The Force (3-3) got nine saves from Shahan. The Force are also in a weird situation on Friday as they will be the road team against St Elizabeth despite playing on their home field. They will face off at 3 p.m.
All photos by Jason Winchell.
