GREENVILLE – Ursuline struck early in a Catholic Conference field hockey game against St. Elizabeth on Sept. 10, scoring less than two minutes into the contest on the way to a 4-0 shutout of the Vikings. It was the first Raiders athletic event on the new Bermuda grass surface at Serviam Field.
The Raiders, who have just one senior on the roster, went right to the attack. They advanced the ball into the scoring circle, and, after tracking down the loose ball, Sophia Shroyer knocked it just hard enough to roll over the line with just 1:50 elapsed.
The Vikings struggled offensively against Ursuline, but their defense was stingy. Time and again their defenders got in the Raiders’ way, and when they couldn’t, goalkeeper Jazmine Winters was there. Winters rejected three Ursuline shots about 12 minutes into the half, and four minutes after that she threw up another big block. The Raiders picked up a penalty corner after that save, and on the inbounds, Winters came up strong twice more before Ella Koechert was able to poke a rebound into the cage with 13:45 on the clock.
It remained the Winters Show with 8:10 left in the first half. Margaret Lober of Ursuline came up with a steal and went in on goal, but she was stoned by Winters, who added two more during that sequence of plays. Hope Kenney solved the Vikings’ backstop with 3:26 on the clock, sending a turnaround show low and left. The halftime score was 3-0.
Kenney added her second of the contest early in the second half. Shroyer sent a long outlet pass to Kenney, who fired a laser into the cage just 67 seconds into the half.
Final statistics were not available early Wednesday. Ursuline (1-0) hits the road Thursday for a 5:30 p.m. start at Dover, while the Vikings (0-1) stay on the road, traveling to Archmere on Thursday at 3:45 p.m.
