By Lesley Graham
The Ocean City High School field hockey team continued its winning ways on Friday afternoon, defeating Mainland High School, 5-0.
The win brings Ocean City’s record to 8-1 (7-0 in conference play), while Mainland falls to 4-2 in conference (5-2 overall).
Scorers for Ocean City were Tara McNally with two goals, while Reese Bloomstead, Sophia Gresham and Molly Reardon each contributed a goal. Chloe Prettyman had two assists.
Ocean City opened up the scoring early in the game with two goals coming in the first 10 minutes of play and put two more in the back of the cage before the half was over.
The second half was a bit of a back and forth battle with Ocean City having plenty of shot opportunities, but Mainland’s goalkeeper was able to come up with some big saves.
With three seconds remaining on the game clock, Ocean City used quick passing to evade the Mainland defense and add the final tally to the scoreboard.
Once again, the Red Raiders dominated time of possession, allowing themselves several shots on cage, although head coach Kelsey Mitchell would like to see some improvement on shot selection.
“The things we need to work on are minor things, but we like to see continued improvement, that’s our goal,” she said.
Ocean City benefited from a variety of goal scorers and dominant play in the midfield. Mitchell was impressed with Morgan Decosta, a sophomore, who came off the bench and provided a spark for the team.
The rivalry between Ocean City and Mainland is nothing new, but every year brings a different feeling.
“Both squads are different this year, so it’s a fresh-faced rivalry,” noted Mitchell.
She touted the leadership on her team that helped prepare some of the underclassmen to step up for the game.
It’s been a long week for the Red Raiders with three games and thankfully three wins. The team is looking forward to a much deserved day off on Saturday before getting back to the grind next week.
Mitchell said, “Next week is a new week” and the team will have plenty of things to work on to keep the success of the season going.
