Sanford nips Auks 1-0 in soccer behind Trickey, Thomas

Kendal Trickey (left) scored and 8th-grade goalie Maria Thomas was clutch in goal for Sanford in its 1-0 Division II girls soccer state tournament quarterfinal win over Archmere.

GLASGOW – Kendal Trickey used her head and Maria Thomas utilized her hands to keep Sanford School kicking in the DIAA Division II Girls Soccer Tournament on Wednesday night at Caravel’s Peoples Stadium.

Trickey’s header off Evan Amendum’s corner kick in the 51st minute accounted for the lone goal in the Warriors’ 1-0 quarterfinal victory over Archmere.

Sanford advanced to next Wednesday’s semifinals against the winner of Thursday’s Caravel-St. Georges quarterfinal at Dover.

It was a familiar sight, as Trickey had also used her noggin to score with five minutes left to break a scoreless tie in Saturday’s rain-soaked first-round win over Ursuline.

“That was kind of an accident,” Trickey said of knocking the ball in with the back of her head instead of her forehead Wednesday. “ . . . Whatever gets it in. Doesn’t matter. As long as it’s in the net.”

But Sanford needed Thomas’ seven saves, including three heroic stops in the final minute, to preserve the shutout and prevent Archmere from sending the game into overtime.

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“She’s only an eighth-grader, and to have that composure,” Sanford coach Heather Taylor said of Thomas, who had also missed Sanford’s last seven games with a foot injury that required surgery.

Thomas came out to thwart Leah DaCosta on a breakaway, smothered a subsequent rebound and then dived to her left to snare Sullivan Boulden’s free kick from 21 yards out.

“Óh gosh, I was so ready for that whistle to blow,” Thomas said — and it did just after that play.

Sanford has only reached one state girls soccer final in its history — the 1996 title game in which it lost to A.I. du Pont.

No. 6-seeded Sanford (13-3-1) had lost 2-1 to the Auks on April 23.

“It was a very even game and we knew that we could hang with them if we could control four [Boulden] and six [DaCosta],” said Taylor, who had seniors Carter Ayars and Alexandra Somerville holding down her central defense.

No. 3-seeded Archmere (12-2-2) had only lost to Division I top seed Padua during the season.

“We watched a lot of video of the last time we played them,” said Trickey, a sophomore. “We knew their weaknesses and we’re really dangerous on corner kicks so we always try to get it one in. We played better through the midfield and connecting to the forward line.”

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @kevintresolini.