WILMINGTON — Ursuline’s girls soccer game against Concord had been postponed once by rain, so the teams took no chances when the rescheduled date came around on March 31. Despite heavy rain again coinciding with their matchup, the Raiders and Raiders were plenty dry inside the Chase Fieldhouse in Wilmington, with Ursuline coming away with a 4-2 victory.
Concord got on the board first, striking in the second minute. Tia Oberly took control of the ball down the right side and sent a crossing pass to a streaking Haley Schofield, who beat Ursuline keeper Hannah Kelley for the 1-0 lead.
Ursuline’s Raiders grabbed the momentum after that, testing Concord keeper Samiha Tanbin a few times. Tanbin was equal, coming up with a diving save off a shot from Anna Querey. But Ursuline would be held back only so long.
In the 13th minute, Julie Copeman found herself with the ball in front of the net and chipped one over Tanbin to tie the score, with Querey picking up the assist. The pair teamed up again in the 32nd. A long-distance free kick reached Copeman, who was in the middle of three Concord defenders. Copeman found an opening and sent a shot low to the left side for the one-goal lead. That would be the score at halftime after a Concord free kick late in the opening 40 minutes was just wide.
UA came out with a purpose after the intermission. Their pressure generated several corner kicks, and they scored on the first one. Madeleine LaFond took the kick from Samantha Hurd at the top of the 18-yard box and went low left past Tanbin. Three more corners, however, did not yield another score, although they resulted in a save, a shot off the crossbar, and another over the net.
Concord tightened the game in the 59th minute. A throw-in near midfield was played into the box, where Riley Miller was waiting. Her short side shot cut the Ursuline lead to 3-2.
LaFond missed just wide with about 18 minutes left in the contest, but the Ursuline Raiders would eventually add an insurance marker. Meg Macauley won a race to the ball, turned and send a shot to Tanbin’s left. The keeper dove, but the ball ticked off the fingertips of her glove and found the net. Sadie Young got the assist.
The Ursuline Raiders outshot the Concord Raiders, 18-6, and they had four corners to Concord’s one. Kelley had three saves. Ursuline (3-0) is off until April 13, when Saint Mark’s visits Serviam Field for a 3:45 p.m. start.
Tanbin stopped 11 shots for Concord. These Raiders (2-1) will travel to Wilmington Charter on April 12 at 3:30 p.m.
All photos by Mike Lang.
