Eastern Region field hockey quarterfinals

First up, the match of the day, Cox and Maury in a rematch of last year's Eastern Region and State tournament finals. The Falcons came in as Beach District champs while the Commodores were still feeling a bit stung after last week's loss to Granby in the Eastern District final. Both teams fought hard for 60 minutes, but it was the Falcons who did what they needed to do to win, 1-0. Kelsey Rosenmeier's tally near the halfway point of the opening half proved to be just enough as Cox made the key stops to preserve the win, outshooting Maury for the game 14-2. The Commodores had a pair of chances late but could not convert any shots after penalty corners. Cox moves on to yet another Eastern Region semifinal berth at 18-2 while Maury's season comes to an end at 13-6.
The Falcons' semifinal opponent on Thursday will be the Lakeland Cavaliers. The Southeastern District champions took the early advantage and never looked back against Peninsula runner-up Gloucester, 4-1. The Cavaliers built a two goal halftime lead and added to their lead early in the second half on Courtney Parmeter's second goal of the game. The Dukes fought back to pull within two after a Jessica Kersey goal, but Sarah Mazzone restored Lakeland's two goal lead for good. The Cavaliers improve to 18-1 while Gloucester's season ends at 11-5. Gametime for Cox and Lakeland in Thursday's first region semifinal is at 1pm at the training center.
In the second set of quarterfinals, both Princess Anne and Kecoughtan rolled to impressive shutout wins to set up the second semifinal match on Thursday. The regular season Beach champs got their game rolling after a slow beginning, scoring ten minutes into the game on a Blair George tally. Maartje van Rijswijk added two goals on breakaways in the second half to put the game away as the Cavaliers improve to 16-2 while the Comets season ended at 9-7.
The Peninsula champions roared out of the gate, scoring quickly and often against a shellshocked Hickory Hawks squad, 7-0. The Warriors outshot the Hawks 22-0 and 13-0 in corners. Kecoughtan scored four times in the first half and added three more goals in the second half as they improve to 17-1 while Hickory's season concludes at 13-5. Kecoughtan and Princess Anne play the second semifinal on Thursday at 3pm.
You can say Cox and P.A. are prohibitive favorites to meet for the region title Friday afternoon, considering they have captured 16 of the the last 18 region crowns. Matter of fact, in the history of the eastern region tournament, only one non-beach school has won the title, Warwick way back in 1980.