Sussex Academy hockey beats Dover 8-0 for eighth shutout
With their 8-0 win over Dover Oct. 17, the girls in the Class of 2025 on the Sussex Academy field hockey team clinched their fourth double-digit win total of their high school careers.
Fittingly, the seven seniors repping the Seahawks this year were celebrated with a Senior Night presentation before the opening whistle.
“I have had this team since they were eighth-graders, so it's a big moment for me to see them all the way through,” Seahawks coach Caitlyn Hardy said. “Just an amazing set of girls. They're all, individually, amazing athletes, amazing students and very kind. They bring a lot to the table on and off the field; they're great to the community and give back.”
Senior Shelby Manlove opened the scoring with just 3.7 seconds left in the first quarter. She found fellow captain Ryan Lowe 1:25 into the second for the first of four goals in the period. Lowe returned the favor with a helper to Manlove, which was sandwiched between tallies by Morgan Leeper and Shea Danahy.
Dover nearly kept Sussex Academy off the board in the third quarter, but on a corner taken with no time left on the clock, Manlove fired a shot on cage that was deflected in by another captain, Rilyn Lehman, to give the Seahawks a 6-0 lead heading into the final frame.
A little over two minutes into the fourth quarter, senior Emma Campbell was on the doorstep of the goal when she connected on a loose ball and sent it through the five-hole for a 7-0 lead.
“We've been working so hard since the beginning of the season,” Campbell said. “We couldn't have asked for a better Senior Night.”
Manlove registered her third assist of the contest when she had another shot tipped in, this time by Danahy.
“I'm super, super grateful to be a senior here at Sussex Academy, and I think this game just kind of was a great way to end Senior Night,” Manlove said.
The Seahawks are now 10-3.
