Young Cape hockey team stays undefeated with 2-1 win at Smyrna
Cape freshman Kailey McMahon went whack-a-mole on a rolling ball in the second quarter of a 1-1 game Sept. 12 at Smyrna, beating goalie Nora O’Connell to give the Vikings a 2-1 advantage with 4:54 left in the first half.
The goal, the first of McMahon’s career, held up as Cape defeated Smyrna 2-1 and is now 4-0 on the season.
“Emily [Wells] sent the ball across through legs and sticks and it got to me, and I just knocked it into the goal,” McMahon said. “It’s just fun to be out there. Things move fast with no time to be nervous.”
Cape and Smyrna had met in the last three Division I finals, with Cape winning 4-0 in 2021 and 1-0 in 2023. Smyrna beat Cape in overtime 2-1 in the 2022 finals.
Cape has a 5-2 advantage over Smyrna in the last seven meetings.
The Vikings got on the scoreboard at 8:58 of the first period when Mairead Rishko dropped to one knee, framed the shot and sent it far post.
“Mairead just has such a game sense on the field with her and Atia [Sabbagh] in the middle; it just makes us so solid,” said coach Kate Austin.
Less than two minutes later, Smyrna’s Ava Pierce scored off an assist from Ava Elias to tie the game.
Cape’s Izzy Mekulski, a junior and first-year starter, had four saves in the game and is now 4-0 in her young career.
Cape’s backline defenders are Regan Best, Lina Frederick and Ally Diehl.
That D has to deal with Smyrna’s Bree Moffett, the most dangerous scoring threat in the Henlopen Conference, along with Delmar’s Jordyn Hollamon.
“You play Smyrna and Delmar, you know the game is going through their star players,” said assistant coach Deb Windett. “We are not that kind of team; our firepower may come from anywhere.”
Cape had a slight advantage with shots, 8-6, while corners were tied at 7-7.
The Cape players served as game officials for a middle school play day held Sept. 14 at Cape. The Vikings will host Polytech Tuesday, Sept. 17, then host Tower Hill Saturday, Sept. 21.
Bigger picture - Sussex Academy’s schedule has three tough games in a row, beginning with a Sept. 14 road game at Charter School of Wilmington. They will then head down to Delmar for a Tuesday, Sept. 17 game, followed by hosting Caravel Thursday, Sept. 19.
Milford has nine returning starters from last year's team that made it to the state tournament semifinal, and is 3-1 on the season, having scored 24 goals in four games.
