NEWARK – Starting fast is always the goal for the Delmar field hockey team whenever they take the field.
Senior defender Caitlyn Wink took that to heart, scoring just 1:27 into the first half, helping the third-seeded Wildcats upend No. 10-seed Polytech 2-0 Tuesday night in the state semifinals at Rullo Stadium at the University of Delaware.
“We’ve come out in each of our playoff games pretty strong,” Wildcats head coach Jodi Hollamon said. “We wanted to take the pressure off of our defense by putting the ball in the cage quickly and we did.”
“It’s a good start because it’s ‘boom’ – right in the goal and it gets us excited,” said Wink, who flipped a shot past Panthers goalie Holly Rembold for the winner.
Sophomore midfielder Ashlyn Carr added a slap shot goal 8:55 into the second half and that was all the offense Delmar (17-1) would need, as their defense kept Polytech’s possession time limited and surrendered no shots on the goal on the night.
“Madison Blewitt is a phenomenal goalie,” Wink said. “She really held us up out there and our defense was solid. We all know how to work together and communicate. We were able to get the ball and get it right out.”
“We did a very nice job defensively. Our goal was to play the ball on the outside,” Hollamon explained. “We struggled with that in the first half, but we played solid defense overall.”
Now Delmar will be back at Rullo Stadium on Friday for its fifth crack at a state championship in six seasons. They are excited and ready for the challenge.
“To be here is a testament to how hard our girls work,” Hollamon said. “To put that first state championship banner up is a huge goal of ours.”
“This is my senior year and we’ve worked so hard for this,” Wink said. “Everybody has put forth the effort, now we just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
Polytech finished their season 12-5-1.
Delmar players celebrate a goal in the first half of Delmar’s 2-0 win over Polytech in their DIAA state tournament semi-final game at the University of Delaware in Newark on Tuesday night.
Delmar’s Peyton Kemp (left) puts a shot on goal in the first half of Delmar’s 2-0 win over Polytech in their DIAA state tournament semi-final game at the University of Delaware in Newark on Tuesday night.
Polytech’s Mackenzie Estrada (No. 12) falls to the turf as Delmar’s Peyton Kemp moves to the goal in the first half of Delmar’s 2-0 win over Polytech in their DIAA state tournament semi-final game at the University of Delaware in Newark on Tuesday night.
Delmar’s Ashlyn Carr (left) and Polytech’s Meadow Watkinson (right) chase down the ball in the second half of Delmar’s 2-0 win over Polytech in their DIAA state tournament semi-final game at the University of Delaware in Newark on Tuesday night.
Delmar players celebrate their 2-0 win over Polytech in their DIAA state tournament semi-final game at the University of Delaware in Newark on Tuesday night.
