Hillers cruise to victory over Sanford

Tower Hill set the tone from the opening faceoff. The Hillers won the initial faceoff and kept constant pressure on Sanford goalie Katie Zubrow.

No. 1-ranked Tower Hill dominated the first half, jumped out to a 10-0 lead, and glided to a 17-5 victory over Sanford on Tuesday.

Katie Applegate scored six goals, Emily Schuckert added four goals and two assists, Mary Hobbs had three goals and an assist and Caroline Holliday chipped in with two goals and two assists for the three-time defending state champion Hillers (4-0, 3-0 Independent Conference).

"Starting off strong in the first 10 minutes and setting the tone as you said has been a real focal point for us," Tower Hill coach Wiz Applegate said. "I think it helps us to play with more confidence."

Applegate opened the scoring with 21:19 left and notched three of Tower Hill's first six goals.

Schuckert gave the Hillers a 7-0 lead with 9:26 remaining in the first half.

"Coming out the first 10 minutes and getting a lead gives us momentum," Schuckert said. "We want to play well and it has worked early in games for us."

Tower Hill controlled the ball for almost the entire the first half.

"I think our passing and connections in the midfield was good," Applegate said. "We really moved the ball around well and came together as a team."

Sanford's Diana Aulisa and Taylor Denham each scored to open the second half, cutting the lead to 11-3.

But the Hillers responded with four consecutive goals to put the game away.

Aulisa had three goals and Sukey Hendrix added a goal for the Warriors (1-2, 0-2).

"We had some opportunities where we couldn't capitalize early in the game," Sanford coach Suzanne Humphreys said. "Tower Hill is a good team and a good program, no doubt about it."

Tower Hill is always expected to play well, but the players don't seem to mind the expectations.

"We know there's pressure on us because every team is out to get you," Schuckert said. "It's good motivation for us."

Tower Hill 17, Sanford 5

Sanford 1 4- 5

Tower Hill 11 6-17

Goals-S: Aulisa 3, Denham, Hendrix; TH: Applegate 6, Schuckert 4, Hobbs 3, Holliday 2, Lyons, Ianni.

Assists-S: Cramer; TH: Holliday 2, Schuckert 2, Hobbs, Lyons, Martel, Smith.

Shots-S 10, TH 36. Saves-S 19 (Zubrow), TH 4 (Aurigemma 3/Grubbs 1).

Reprinted with permission of The News Journal