Delmar field hockey nets two goals in each half to defeat Cape Henlopen, 4-2

The Delmar varsity field hockey team jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Henlopen North rival Cape Henlopen, scoring two more goals in the third quarter for a 4-2 home win last Thursday. The win comes with two regular season games left for the Wildcats before the Henlopen Conference championship will take place where the two teams will likely meet again.

“It feels good. We’ve been working hard every practice together,” said Delmar senior Laela Brown. “It (win) gives us hope for the championship, builds us up, gives us the extra belief that we can do this.”

Delmar’s Rylin Nichols, right, and a Cape Henlopen player pursue the ball as the Wildcats’ Tylah Brown looks on. Photo by Mike McClure

“We really wanted this bad this year. We came out and worked hard,” fellow senior Jordyn Hollamon added. “It allows us to gain more confidence going into the playoffs because we know if we can play like that (today) we can win the championship again.”

Eighth grader Ava Reid scored the game’s first goal with 4:36 left in the opening quarter with Hollamon picking up the assist. The score remained 1-0 until Kadence Melvin knocked the ball in off a feed from Brown with 9:27 remaining in the second quarter.

Cape Henlopen, which held a 6-4 edge in shots and a 6-3 advantage in corners, answered with a goal with 2:59 left in the half on a goal by Emily Wells off a feed from Mairead Rishko.

Hollamon upped her team’s lead to 3-1 with a goal on a corner at 11:09 in the third quarter. Hollamon tallied her second goal with 38 seconds left in the quarter with Brown picking up the assist. Hollamon and Brown connected on passes throughout the day.

“It was just eye contact. In practice we are always doing passes together,” said Brown.

“We’ve been playing together since middle school (and play club ball together),” Hollamon said. “We just really work well together knowing where each other is.”

Cape Henlopen added a goal with 1:52 remaining in the game with Rishko picking up another assist. Delmar outshot the Vikings, 9-7, and held a 12-10 edge in corners in the win. Wildcats’ goalkeeper Marleigh Wells recorded five saves in goal.