WILMINGTON – Lexi Goff scored five goals, and the Ursuline defense held Charter School of Wilmington to just three over the first 43 minutes of the game in a 19-6 victory in the first round of the DIAA girls lacrosse state tournament on May 19 at Serviam Field. The Raiders, seeded third in the 16-team tournament, will play the winner of Polytech and Tower Hill on Saturday.
On the warmest day of the spring, the Raiders and the No. 14 Force did battle. Ursuline took control early thanks to their dominance on faceoffs, which led to several eight-meter opportunities that were often converted. In fact, Goff scored the first goal of the afternoon on just such an opportunity just 53 seconds in.
Vivian Wiggins got on the scoreboard at the 17:20 mark, coming out from behind the net and beating Charter goalkeeper Morgan Oliver high for the 2-0 advantage. Charter finally got on the board at the 11:18 mark, with Margaret Murphy beating Raiders keeper Amelia Cradler in close after holding on to the ball for more than a minute.
But several Ursuline players made sure their lead was safe. Goff, Lilly Rice, Ella Koechert and Wiggins combined for the next five goals, and the Raiders added two in the final minute of the half – both by Rice – to take a 10-3 lead into intermission.
The Raiders owned the ball in the second half, putting up the first seven goals over a 17-minute span. The assault started with a bouncer from Chloe Jones at the 24:12 mark, and the next five all came on eight-meter opportunities. The Force scored three straight goals in a three-minute span late in the game, but the Raiders closed it out with two more, including one from #13U with just 14 seconds to go.
Koechert and Wiggins each had four goals, while Rice had three. Sophia Shroyer was the other player with a single goal. Cradler had six saves. The Raiders (12-2) will host a quarterfinal matchup against either sixth-seeded Tower Hill or 11th-seeded Polytech on Saturday at a time to be determined.
Murphy led the Force with three goals. Naomi Clatworthy had two and Sarah Nagy the other. Oliver stopped eight shots. The Force finished the season at 7-8.
All photos by Mike Lang.
