Delran tops Cinnaminson

The Delran field hockey team clinched the Burlington County League Patriot Division title against Medford Tech on Sept. 24.

But the Bears had some unfinished business last night at Cinnaminson, the only division rival they had not beaten.

Paige Mollineaux and Casey Burk avenged a tie with the Pirates earlier in the season by leading Delran to a 2-1 victory.

However, even though the Bears (10-0-2 overall, 7-0-1 division) are finished with their divisional schedule, they might not have seen the end of Cinnaminson (5-4-3, 4-2-2), the second-place team in the division.

The squads are in Central Jersey Group 2, and they could meet again in the NJSIAA playoffs that are scheduled to start Oct. 31.

Mollineaux, who scored Delran's only goal in a 1-1 tie when the Bears hosted Cinnaminson on Sept. 26, said last night's game felt different from the first.

"Tonight we played like a team," said the senior midfielder who leads the Pirates with 12 goals. "We were passing and taking well.

"The first goal set the tone."

Only 2 minutes, 44 seconds into the game, Mollineaux received a penalty-corner pass from Lindsey Atzert and drilled the ball past sophomore keeper Maggie Zelinka and into the right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.

That fired up the Bears, who scored again with 14:22 remaining in the first half when Burk took a pass up the middle from Mollineaux and blasted it into the left side of the net for a 2-0 lead.

But the Pirates never gave up, and Emily Bresnahan made their hard work pay off by getting a shot past junior goalie Chelsey Fitzgerald to narrow the lead to 2-1 with 9:52 left until intermission.

"That goal definitely gave us a boost," said Bresnahan, who was assisted by Ashlee Lippincott. "We needed it to prove that we were still in the game.

"We're disappointed because it was senior night, and we wanted to give them their first loss."

During the halftime break, Cinnaminson coach Beth Raleigh told her players that she wanted them to go a hundred miles an hour. And they seemed to do just that.

In the final 3:30, the Pirates had five penalty corners and three shots on goal. But none went in.

In all, Cinnaminson took 13 shots to 10 for the Bears and had 11 penalty corners to 6 for Delran.

Raleigh was disappointed by the loss but happy with the effort.

"They responded," Raleigh said in reference to her halftime request. "They played as hard as they could.

"We had a problem finishing [shots], but the effort was incredible."

Meanwhile, Burk reveled in the fact that the Bears finished undefeated in the division.

"Finally we can have the pride of being No. 1 and look forward to the playoffs," Burk said.

Delran 2 0 - 2

Cinnaminson 1 0 - 1

Goals: D–Paige Mollineaux, Casey Burk. C–Emily Bresnahan.

Saves: D–Chelsey Fitzgerald 12. C–Maggie Zelinka 8.