Heather Wiley was unstoppable on Friday.
The senior finished with four goals and an assist as Caravel eased past Appoquinimink 5-0 in the opening round of the DIAA Field Hockey State Tournament at Bob Peoples Stadium.
"I just went out there with the mindset that I'm only guaranteed 60 minutes," Wiley said. "That's all that I'm guaranteed in my high school career. I just tried to do the best I could, and I had a lot of help from my teammates."
Wiley extended the Buccaneers' season at least one more game. Fourth-seeded Caravel (14-2) will meet fifth-seeded Wilmington Friends in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, at a site and time to be determined.
Wiley opened the scoring with a backhanded shot with 26:06 left in the first half. The Buccaneers earned a penalty corner seven minutes later, and Jessica Reynolds' pass to the top of the circle set up a blast by Wiley that made it 2-0.
"We've been working a lot on distributing," Wiley said. "Not just pummeling it up the field, but working together as a group across the field."
Reynolds got in on the scoring with 18:26 left in the game, batting in a hard pass from Wiley for a 3-0 lead.
"I just got low and tried to keep my eye on it," Reynolds said. "Heather's goals were amazing. She's our leader, and she played a great game overall."
Wiley used a little trickery for her third goal, as a high-arcing shot found the mark with 3:40 left. She made it 5-0 with a blast from the right side with 2:02 to go.
"That was something I've been working on in practice," Wiley said of her looping shot. "It's always been kind of a joke, but I thought I might as well give it a shot. It worked."
Caravel held Appo (9-7) to two shots, both turned aside by goalkeeper Samantha Lester. The Buccaneers had 13 shots, with three saves made by Jaguars goalkeeper Morgan Ludlam.
