Sea Devils Battle to 3–3 Draw with Hagerstown

A close battle between two quality programs ended in a 3–3 draw Friday afternoon at Cape Fear Community College.

Hagerstown struck first in the 21st minute, capitalizing on a breakdown in the Sea Devil defense. Cape Fear answered fifteen minutes later when freshman Nataly Diluccia was played in behind the defense by Kenliana Dixon, slotting home the equalizer. Just before halftime, Hagerstown regained the lead after taking advantage of another Cape Fear turnover to make it 2–1 at the break.

Cape Fear came out strong in the second half, quickly turning the game around. Freshman Laina Elliott tied the match in the 47th minute, finishing off a pass from Diluccia. Moments later, Freshman Laina Elliott scored again giving the Sea Devils the lead, again assisted by Diluccia.

In the 75th minute, a red card was issued to sophomore captain Kayla Donley following a defensive challenge in the box, resulting in a penalty kick. Hagerstown converted to tie the match at 3–3. Despite playing a player down for the remainder of the match, Cape Fear continued to attack but was unable to find the game-winner.

The result moves Cape Fear to 4-2-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play. The Sea Devils will travel to Wake Tech on Wednesday, where they can clinch the regular season title with a win.

"We started way too slow today. Hagerstown was very professional in their actions and gave us a good run this evening. Simple mental mistakes cost us the game today. We need to come out stronger at the beginning of games, but I was truly pleased with the second half. Even after going down a player, we continued to attack and create opportunities," stated Coach Ponton.