By Andy Walter

DOVER — It’s a rare occasion when a Delaware team challenges the Cape Henlopen High girls’ lacrosse squad.

However, Tatnall is a program that looked capable of doing just that.

And sure enough, the third-seeded Hornets reeled off three straight goals to cut the Vikings’ lead to just one midway through the first half of Thursday night’s DIAA state championship game.

But top-seeded Cape Henlopen slammed the door shut after that, holding Tatnall scoreless for the next 28 minutes and running away to a 16-4 victory over the Hornets at Delaware State’s Alumni Stadium.

The title extended the Vikings’ remarkable string to 13 straight state championships in the sport it has dominated since 2009.

Since winning its first state crown, Cape Henlopen has now won 40 straight state tournament games. They have also won 165 games in a row against Delaware schools since a 13-12 loss at St. Andrews om May 2, 2009.

“It’s really awesome,” said Cape senior Elizabeth Rishko, who tallied a game-high four goals. “This is what we work for every day, all the time. I mean we have fun doing it, too.

“We enjoy winning but we also enjoy each other. Even before the game, half of our warmup was just dancing and giving each other some love on our last day.”

“It’s special,” said Lindsey Underwood, the former Wesley College coach who has now won five state titles at Cape. “Some of these kids were two for the first one. Each year the girls come out and they just work really hard. They don’t get credit for working as hard as they do.

“We try not to talk about it (the pressure),” Underwood said with a laugh. “We try to ignore it until the end.”

If there was a turning point in the contest, it came in the final 10 minutes of the first half.

After Cape (17-1) jumped out to a 4-0 advantage, Tatnall (15-3) pulled within 4-3 when Kali Clayton scored with 9:09 left before intermission.

But Rishko answered with two goals before halftime, including one with just six seconds remaining, to give the Vikings some breathing room at 6-3.

When Cape got goals from Alexi Nowakowski (3 goals), Molly Mendes and Louise Rishko in the first six minutes of the second half, Cape was in control at 9-3. In all, nine players scored for the Vikings.

“Tatnall is a great team and it’s so fun to play them,” said Elizabeth Rishko. “They compete with us so well.

“We were definitely nervous for a little bit there. But we were in that situation with Tower Hill (in the semifinals). That was a great game to prepare for this. We knew how to push through and keep up and get over those bumps when it’s hard to score.”

“We just really hunkered down to play Cape lacrosse,” said Underwood. “We just really talked about playing our game, our way and our style.

“We were talking a lot about the energy of the team. They really just got up for each other in that second half. They were fired up.”

By the time Tatnall scored again, it was 10-4 with 14:49 remaining.

This was only the Hornets’ second appearance in the state finals. They lost to Cape, 17-10, in the title game a year ago.

Tatnall was left short-handed at different times on Thursday because of fouls.

Both team’s goalies — Cape sophomore Anna Lopez and Hornet sophomore Devin Chipman — came up with some big saves. Both keepers were credited with eight stops as the Vikings out-shot Tatnall, 42-12.

“Our goalie had an amazing game,” said Rishko. “She always holds us in these big games. She is great.”

Notes

Kelly Bragg and Grace Wiggins also scored two goals apiece for Cape. ... Clayton netted three goals for Tatnall. ... Since the officially recognized girls’ lacrosse state tournament started in 1998, only three teams have won the title: Cape Henlopen, St. Andrews (6) and Tower Hill (5). ... In its 13 title-game appearances, the Vikings have played seven different schools.

Sports editor Andy Walter can be reached at 302-741-8227 or walter@iniusa.org.
Follow at @DSNSports.