Cape Henlopen field hockey celebrates after scoring a goal. Photo courtesy of Dave Fredman Frederick
This was an exciting matchup for 2 of Henlopen North’s best field hockey teams. Cape came in undefeated at 7-0 and Milford at 5-1, but undefeated against Delaware opponents. Every team just gets a little more hyped to play the Vikings because of the winning hockey traditions at Cape.
Corners and penalty strokes were the calls of the day. Any hockey coach I know has the motto, every corner needs to be a goal. If that was the case, today’s score could have looked more like a football game score.
13:36 Emily Wells created Cape’s first corner. Macy Steinwedel inserted the ball to Atia Sabbaugh, little sister to Marcella and Noelle, both Cape standouts. Sabbaugh fired off a shot that GK Madisoin Stahl blocked but the onslaught of attempts by Cape created a penalty stroke when the ball hit a defender that was behind the goalkeeper. 13:01 Sabbaugh took the penalty stroke and hit the back of the cage to put Cape up early 1-0.
After the game I asked Atia what her mentality was going to the line for the stroke and how important scoring would be for her team. Sabbaugh said, walking up to the goal is really mental and blocking everyone and blocking everything out and putting all your mental state in that one moment is very important, especially because we were 0-0 and it was just a really big impact and getting that goal really set our team up. “
Sabbaugh dominated the midfield with great passes and combinations for the offense to make their runs. Cape would dominate offensively in the first quarter getting 5 shots off and 4 creating corners.
Milford found their groove in the 2nd quarter and everyone in the stadium knew we were in for a game. Milford created scoring opportunities throughout the quarter, controlling the pace of the game and possession. Unfortunately, they couldn’t connect for a goal. The score remained 1-0 going into half time.
When asked about what adjustments she made at the half and what she told her team, Coach Kate Austin said “we in the first half went way from our game plan was for some reason, so just relying on ball patterns, we played a really good game on Tuesday with IR with the passing and we went away from that and started attacking the left side, just tendencies we don’t normally have, so we focused on regrouping and settling back into what works for us.”
Cape Henlopen owned the second half. After starting buried in their own circle, Avary Miller and Emily Smith went to work up the right side of the field. It truly was a joy to watch these two players work with Sabbaugh in the midfield with off ball checks, through passes, they marched down the field keeping a triangle of spacing, and just out hustled Milford middies. Cape is always known for their superb conditioning and it showed. Plain and simple, they played fundamental field hockey.
Miller said of her teammate Wells “ she is just an amazon player, on and off the field we’ve built a connection so I know wherever I pass the ball she’s gonna be there to go get it, I always know she’s gonna be through for me, she always gives me a voice and she’s just an amazing player and I love having her on my side.”
Milford’s defenders are to be congratulated. Jordan Casper had block tackle after block tackle denying Cape in the circle and forcing turnovers. Ashlyn Jordan filled the middle of the circle and stopped shot after shot with good outlet passes to clear the ball from the circle. They were tested again and again and played strong defense while Goalkeeper Madison Stahl worked tirelessly to keep the game in reach.
It took Cape about 8 minutes into the quarter to score the 2nd and final goal. Emily Wells wiggled her way through traffic to score for the Vikings.
The Masten sisters (Baylie and Molly) continued to work but were just a tick out of sync. Molly dribbled the length of the field on several occasions but didn’t have enough help to score.
While disappointed Milford defenders Jordan Casper and Ashlyn Jordan admitted everyone had to play both sides of the ball today and they were proud of the team’s effort. “Our defense has great connections and moves well together. We know what we need to work on”, Casper said. Ashlyn added “we don’t need to work on our defense anymore, we have that down, we need to focus on the offense getting into the circle and finishing.”
Milford’s Head Coach Andrea McPike was proud of her team, despite the loss. She said “they installed a new defensive set and new corner scheme this week. Her team has done a great job of learning on the fly and making adjustments immediately”. She thought they played a little too defensive and lost their transition game which hurt the offense today. But overall she’s very proud of how they played a tough team like Cape.
Cape hosts CR Tuesday Oct. 1, 6 pm.
Milford travels to Smyrna Tuesday Oct. 1, 4 pm.
Follow me on X (Twitter) @STimmons302 @302sports
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