Delmarva Christian field hockey celebrate senior duo

Delmarva Christian field hockey fans were treated to an optimistic glimpse of the future and a first from senior captain Lucy Magee in the Royals’ thrilling 4-3 overtime win over Seaford Oct. 14

“I love being the goalie of this team, especially knowing that I've got a talented group of girls to help me,” said senior Bella Marinelli. “That was a total team win, especially how all of us came up big in moments. Lucy with the tying goal, Olivia [Balback] with the game-winning goal, and then I had that save.”

Balback opened up the scoring in the Senior Night game off an assist from Lacie Wilkins before the Blue Jays knotted things up with under a minute to play in the first quarter. Seaford struck again in the second to take a 2-1 lead at the half.

A little over four minutes into the second half, Balback made it a brace to tie things at two. A little over halfway into the fourth, the Royals earned a corner, bringing Magee up from defense to take part in the offense. As things broke loose in front of the cage, she buried the ball for her first career goal and gave Delmarva Christian a 3-2 advantage.

“It felt really good – I was really excited!” Magee said. “I played defense, so I don't really get a chance to do that a lot.”

Seaford forced overtime by scoring with just a few minutes left in the fourth. The Blue Jays appeared to end the game early in the extra period, but Marinelli saved the day when her deflection landed on a Seaford foot. 

With just over six minutes on the clock, Delmarva Christian charged toward the goal. Balback received a pass with her stick ready to crank and completed her hat trick to win the game for the Royals 4-3.

The game will be another special memory for the whole team, but particularly for Marinelli and Magee, who were honored before the game alongside their families.  

“I've gotten a close bond with all the girls,” Marinelli said. “One of my favorite things is having the middle schoolers this year, especially because I've got a close relationship with them, especially with Olivia.”

“The bus rides, laughing with everybody, joking around, scrimmaging, and just getting to mess around with everybody,” Magee said about what she will remember.

“When you come up with a really young team – they only have two seniors – you kind of wonder what that looks like,” said Royals coach Lindsay Cannon. “Those two seniors definitely pick the team up; they stay positive and were super-good influences on all of the younger ones.”

Delmarva Christian wrapped up the 2024 season with a 2-1 loss to Tome School Oct. 16 at the DE Turf Complex. Marinelli had six saves in the match while the single goal was scored by Lacie Wilkins off an assist from Balback.