Seahawks fall to defending state champion Wildcats
The Sussex Academy field hockey team picked up a double-digit win Sept. 14 when it traveled to Laurel and won 10-0. Then, perennial state champion Delmar headed to the county seat Sept. 19 to take on the Seahawks.
Wildcats junior Jordyn Hollamon and senior Baylie Phillips were each selected first-team all-state last year. The former is committed to the University of Maryland, while the latter is headed to Appalachian State. The Seahawks have a Division I commit in junior Rilyn Lehman (Michigan State) and a second-team all-state selection in Morgan Leeper.
After the first quarter of their head-to-head matchup, Delmar led 1-0 thanks to the first of two goals from Laela Brown.
Then came Hollamon.
Connecting with senior Emily Bitters, Hollamon helped double the lead less than five minutes into the second quarter. Just a minute-and-a-half later, Hollamon scored her first goal. Bitters added another before halftime to give Delmar a 4-0 advantage.
Hollamon found the back of the net off of a Brown pass just over a minute into the second half to increase the lead to five. Brown notched her second goal of the game with just under five minutes to go in the third quarter. With 25 seconds left in the third quarter, sophomore Kadence Melvin scored, giving the Wildcats a 7-0 lead.
Hollamon, who played for the U16 USA National Team in 2023, scored the final two goals early in the fourth to cement a 9-0 victory.
Delmar earned 12 penalty corners and took 35 shots. Closeouts by Madison Jones and other Seahawks defenders prevented more. Sophomore goalie Kacie Rawlings had 26 saves, including a beautiful stick save on a penalty stroke from Hollamon.
“Playing this high level of competition is good, especially coming into a competitive week. We were very strong in the circle, and I think that we didn’t let them get off every shot. Kacie was making good saves; it was just they were quick in the circle to get those rebounds,” said Seahawks coach Leah Hunsinger.
Hunsinger believes the team can build off the game and improve clear-outs.
“We had opportunities up in the circle. I think we just need to really figure out our finishing both in the defensive circle and offensively to get those goals in, because our midfield is strong. We’re getting it up there; we just need to finish,” Hunsinger said.
