Sarah George couldn’t have picked a better time to have her best game for Dulaney High’s field hockey team.
In her final home game, George had a career-best five goals, leading the No. 17 Lions to a 6-1 romp of Chesapeake-Anne Arundel in the Class 4A North Region title match in Timonium Wednesday afternoon.
“It was surreal, it was unbelievable, it was amazing, Abby [Sprinkel] had great assists,” said George.
Sprinkel helped make George’s career day possible with four assists.
“The connections were really on today,” said Sprinkel. “Today, we were just on, we beat them [Chesapeake] to every single ball, Sarah [George] was in the right place at the right time and our forwards did a really good job.”
“It was really beautiful watching them [Sprinkel and George] make those connections out there today,” said Dulaney coach Kendra Whaley. “I knew they had it them, they just had to believe it, this team has a lot of talent, it is fun to coach them and it is fun to see them play.”
“Abby [Sprinkel] is the anchor for this team,” added George. “We wouldn’t have scored all of the goals we did today without her.”
The Lions and Cougars were locked in a defensive struggle early as the Lions created four corner chances. George was able to convert, giving Dulaney a 1-0 lead at halftime.
Less than two minutes into the second half, George began to getting into a groove as she and Sprinkel connected for four of the five Dulaney’s second half goals. The Lions were able to limit Chesapeake’s possessions on their side of the field.
“Once we got up by three goals our momentum had really built up and they just shut down,” said George.
Midway in the second half, Holly Loukey drilled a shot from three yards out. It was the lone blemish on an otherwise perfect day for Dulaney, which will play Magruder in a state semifinal at Franklin Wednesday.
“The next two games are going to be tough,” said Whaley, whose team lost in the state semifinal round last year. “We need our players to know that have to keep pushing through.”
