CLAYMONT — Archmere took control after Ursuline tied the game in the middle of the third quarter, scoring twice in the fourth to secure a 4-2 win in the quarterfinal round of the DIAA Division II field hockey state tournament on Oct. 31 in Claymont.
The fourth-seeded Auks advance to the semifinals. They will play No. 1 Wilmington Friends at noon on Sunday at Rullo Stadium at the University of Delaware.
Freshman Lauren Wenger gave the Auks a 2-1 lead over the No. 5 Raiders very early in the second quarter, beating Ursuline goalie Georgia Rassias high after a steal. It stayed that way for a while, with both teams getting several chances on penalty corners and the goalies, Rassias and Archmere’s Paige Noval, turning away shots.
Six minutes into the third, however, Ursuline’s Sammie Weinert (St. Mary Magdalen Parish) came up with a steal deep in Auks territory. Her first shot went wide of the net but was kept in play, and Weinert got a second chance. This time, she knocked home a crossing pass from Kendall Gulli (St. Ann Parish) to tie the game with 8:45 to go in the third.
The Auks put the pressure on the Raiders throughout the fourth quarter, earning a penalty corner a few minutes in. After a scramble in front of Rassias, Sarah Dahms backhanded a shot that Claudia Koch tipped in at the 11:54 mark.
They added an insurance goal with 4:28 to go, again taking advantage of a penalty corner. The Auks passed the ball around the edge of the scoring circle, and Koch found Wenger parked at the left post. Wenger one-timed a shot into the cage for her second of the afternoon.
The teams were even after one quarter. Cecilia Patino rolled a shot into the right side of the cage seven minutes in to put Archmere on top, 1-0. Gulli tied it when she tipped a shot by Weinert over Noval on a penalty corner with no time remaining in the first.
The Auks improved to 11-5. The game against Friends will be a rematch of one played Oct. 11 at Archmere, a 4-1 Quakers win.
Ursuline, which started the season 2-4, won 10 straight heading into the Archmere game. The Raiders finished 12-5.
Photos by Mike Lang.
