DOVER – The dynasty continues.
Cape Henlopen pushed one of the longest winning streaks in the history of Delaware high school sports another step higher on Thursday night, rolling past Tatnall 16-4 for the Vikings’ 13th consecutive DIAA Girls Lacrosse championship at Delaware State University’s Alumni Stadium.
“I just felt like there was a lot of pressure to do really well, and I felt like we really handled that,” said Cape goalie Anna Lopez, who made eight big saves, many early in the game. “We knew that they were going to be coming at us as hard as they did, and we were just ready for that. They were hungry, and we were hungrier.”
The Vikings’ streak of titles is believed to be the second longest in DIAA history. Tatnall won 14 straight Division II girls cross country crowns from 2004-17.
“It’s wild,” Cape coach Lindsey Underwood said. “I try not to think about it until afterwards because it’s just crazy.”
INSPIRATIONAL:Paralyzed in 1998 game, lacrosse player passed love of sport to son
The Vikings finished 17-1 this year, their only loss coming 16-13 to Broadneck (Maryland). Cape hasn’t lost to a Delaware opponent since 2009, an ever-growing stretch of now 165 games.
“Honestly, we try not to talk about it so there is no pressure,” Underwood said. “I think there is some underlying pressure, but we just kind of focus on what we need to do each year and just work as hard as we can.”
This one wasn’t easy, despite the final score. It was the second straight trip to the championship for Tatnall (15-3), and the Hornets had been preparing all season after losing to the Vikings 17-10 last year.
But Tatnall was undermined by three early yellow cards, including two to Lydia Colasante in the first six minutes that sent one of the Hornets’ top players to the sideline and forced Tatnall to play with one less player than the Vikings the rest of the way.
The Hornets faced a similar predicament in the 2021 final.
TRYING TIMES:Why all of Delaware high school softball is getting behind Sussex Central pitcher
“It actually is a little reminder of exactly how the game went last year, when the cards were thrown early,” Tatnall coach Ruth Hiller said. “The refs saw what they saw. … Last year, our girls had to dig deep and come up despite that, and they had to do the same this year.
“I can’t believe it was a repeat game. I’d really like to see what would happen if my team could play their team straight up.”
Trailing 4-0 midway through the first half, the Hornets fought valiantly for three straight goals – including two straight by Kali Clayton to pull within 4-3 with 9:03 left in the half.
“It was a wild game, and it’s not easy making adjustments on the fly, even when you’re the team that didn’t get the cards,” Underwood said.
The Vikings righted the ship with two scores by Elizabeth Rishko – the second with six seconds remaining – to go into intermission ahead 6-3.
“It just pushed our momentum forward,” Rishko said. “It made us really have more confidence in ourselves. We were definitely nervous for a little bit there.”
Cape opened the second half with four straight goals, and an additional yellow card with 14:49 to play put Tatnall two players down the rest of the way.
“My girls have all heart, and they’ve been working hard all season to prepare for this. They weren’t going to go gently into the night,” Hiller said. “… I can’t say enough about my girls and what they’ve done this season.”
Rishko led Cape with four goals and two assists. Alexi Nowakowski scored three, and Grace Wiggins and Kelly Bragg each had two.
Clayton scored three times for the Hornets.
The Vikings were loose and relaxed as their lead grew, often dancing during timeouts.
“This is what we work for all the time, every day,” Rishko said. “We come out and we work our hardest. We have fun doing it, too. We enjoy winning, but we also enjoy each other. We love each other.
“Even before the game, half of our warmup was just dancing and giving each other some love on our last day.”
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ
