Field hockey: Mainland Regional handles Atlantic City with Care, improves to 6-2

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher LINWOOD — Putting sophomore Paige Care into the starting lineup as a midfielder has been paying dividends lately for the Mainland Regional field hockey team. That trend continued on Friday, as the Mustangs got a pair of goal and an assist from Care en route to a 4-0 victory over Atlantic City. The win was the third straight since a 1-0 loss to Egg Harbor Township on Sept. 18, and with it the Mustangs improved to 6-2. Atlantic City fell to 6-3 after starting out the season 4-1. “I really wanted to win this game because they are a team we are really neck-and-neck with,” Care said. “I think we are playing really well as a team. After the first couple of scrimmages we were still trying to figure out how to play together, but I think now we work better as a team. We communicate more and our passes are better.” Care got the Mustangs on the board early, scoring in the seventh minute to put Mainland ahead 1-0. Senior midfielder Kathryn Hutton added the first of her two goals less than four minutes later, and Mainland controlled possession to take a 2-0 lead into halftime. Mainland Regional’s Kathryn Hutton, right, and Atlantic City’s Julia Falvo fight for possession in front of Vikings goalie Izzy Turner during the Mustangs’ 4-0 win on Friday. (Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan) “I was definitely looking forward to this game. We get after each other, so it was really nice to beat them and come out on top,” Hutton said. “I think we just had to play the way we know how to play. We played as a team, our passing was great, we just really connected and made it happen.” Mainland stretched its lead to 3-0 when Hutton assisted on Care’s second goal of the game, less than five minutes into the second half. Care knocked home a shot after a scrum in front of the goal, giving the Mustangs some solid momentum. Atlantic City made several offensive runs in the second half, but Mainland’s crisp passing from the defensive end to the midfield allowed the Mustangs to flip the field quickly. Hutton scored an unassisted goal with 19:10 remaining to make it 4-0, and the Mustangs continued to make runs up the sidelines, forcing Atlantic City to go a long way to get the ball back to its attackers. The Vikings had several corners in the second half, but came up empty. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]