It did not take long for the Tower Hill School field hockey team to establish that it had no intention whatsoever of relinquishing its status as the top program during the field hockey state tournament championship against Brandywine High School Saturday at Caravel Academy.

Just past the third minute of the game, Tower Hill forward Meghan Lyons fed the ball to forward Katie Applegate, who got a pretty goal past Brandywine goalkeeper Julie Dougherty.

It turned out to be all the scoring the Hillers would need, but forward Mary Hobbs added an insurance goal with just under three minutes to go to give Tower Hill a 2-0 shutout of Brandywine and its fourth straight state championship. It was the Hillers’ eighth in 10 years and state record 18th overall.

Despite a 3-1 setback to Brandywine High School during the regular season, the Hillers had superior stick work, strong passes and a relentless defense that featured intercepted passes and plenty of poke checks in the game that counted most this season.

“We wanted to come out strong and just show them that we were going to avenge our loss to them during the season,” said Applegate, a junior from Chadds Ford, Pa. “We needed to step up and make a statement and we did just that.”

Brandywine midfielder Mary Frances Meier tried to answer Applegate’s score with a shot on goal, but Tower Hill goalkeeper Alexis Aurigemma made the save.

Brandywine was not without its own opportunities. But the Bulldogs executed poorly on several penalty corners they were awarded. Each time Brandywine forward Drew Hayes got the ball in front of the net, the Tower Hill defense converged on her teammates, forcing them to swing on top of the ball for weak dribblers that the Hillers ate up.

“They [Tower Hill] were getting out too fast,” said Brandywine coach Willy Miranda. “We weren’t getting the ball out. We had three or four good shots but two of them went wide, one hit the outside post, and the other one the goalie made a great save.”

As time was running out for Brandywine, Hobbs’ goal instantly ended any hopes Brandywine had of forcing a tie.

“It definitely helped us to seal the deal,” said Hobbs of Wilmington. “It felt a little nerve wracking with it just being a one-goal game. One is never enough. You’ve got to just keep going."

This was the 10th title for coach Robin Adair. Yet far from becoming mundane, she said, each title is different and special.

“These kids set their mind to it,” Adair said. “I think the loss during the regular season just kind of helped us get more fired up for this game. We knew what we were up against – a strong team. The girls stepped up beautifully.”

The teams were even with six shots a piece. Tower Hill goalkeeper Alexis Aurigemma made six saves while Brandywine’s Dougherty made four.

Miranda said that although Brandywine recently kicked off four players for violating a team rule, he did not want to use that as an excuse for the loss, because Tower Hill has a great team.

“But we haven’t been ourselves for the last four games and it’s a credit to our kids that they came back and beat Dover, Concord and Delmar,” Miranda said of the rest of the tournament. “Today, in the second half, we gave them everything we could do. Our goalie [Dougherty] came up big. It bounces one way and a goal goes in.

“Give them credit. It’s four in a row. They’ve got a great program,” he said. “We showed a lot of character today. We’ll be back, hopefully.”

The Brandywine captains, Meier and Dougherty, said Tower Hill was simply too good: Tower Hill’s precision was tough to overcome.

“Their passing is amazing and they can just pass around us,” Dougherty said. “A lot of the time they have the open shot and they take advantage of it.”

Meier said she was proud of the way her team showed that they could play.

"People didn’t expect us to have a great season," she said. “Anybody can do it. You’ve just got to work at it and you’ve got to have heart."