Tower Hill ends drought, restores field hockey championship legacy

FREDERICA – Long-ago queen of Delaware high school field hockey Tower Hill has regained its reign.

Doing so provided considerable satisfaction for the Hillers, who strived to embrace their history rather than be intimidated by it.

It was a powerful motivator in driving Tower Hill to a 3-1 win over Caravel in the Division II title game of the DIAA Field Hockey Tournament Nov. 13 at DE Turf.

Molly Gallagher’s goals on third- and fourth-quarter penalty strokes broke a tie and sent the Hillers to a victory that closed a 17-year title drought.

“We've been working so hard all season, and this is such a team effort,” Gallagher said afterward while classmates chanted “MVP! MVP!” behind her.

Tower Hill won the first state field hockey tournament title in 1973 and 18 in all through 2008, well before schools were broken into bigger- and smaller-school divisions. The Hillers last appeared in a state final in 2017, the first year of divisional play.

Coach Lindsay Goeller was on Tower Hill teams that won four straight state titles from 2005-08, and her assistant coaches had been on those and other title-winning teams.

“We span three different decades of Tower Hill field hockey,” Goeller said. “ . . . So, as a staff, we're so invested in this program, in Tower Hill, in the culture of field hockey, and it's so special to bring the state championship back to Tower Hill.”

The top-seeded Hillers (16-1) only loss this year was to Division I champ Cape Henlopen 5-0.

Third-seeded Caravel was playing in its fourth state field hockey final, but a first championship eluded the Bucs.

Caravel (13-5) lost to Tower Hill 2-1 in its season opener. The Bucs later won 13 of 14 after an 0-3 start.

Hailey Allen’s second-quarter goal sent Tower Hill into halftime up 1-0, before which the Hillers needed to repel several Caravel corners.

Each team was awarded a third-quarter penalty stroke due to a defensive infraction and both converted. Allie Sweeney made the deposit for Caravel to tie the game before Gallagher inched the Bucs back ahead 2-1. She then added an insurance strike with 1:57 left.

“It’s so much pressure,” Gallagher said of that duty, “but I know they believe in me.”

Tower Hill’s defense also thwarted several Caravel corners to key the victory.

“The biggest thing was we were aggressive,” Goeller said. “We said we have to play to win the game. We can't sit back. We have to come out strong and put them on their heels.

“It took a little bit for us to get things going, but as soon as we saw that with some space we can have some offensive opportunities, I think the game really broke open for us, and we were able to maintain a lot of possession in the second half.”

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Tower Hill ends drought, restores field hockey championship legacy