While success is measured differently in every sport and season, the return of the fall athletic season for the first time since the fall of 2019, at St. Andrew’s felt like a triumph no matter the final records. Each fall team had a moment to be proud of. A championship was won; the bottom seed of the tournament almost shocked the state; big games became victories under the lights; and records were broken. After a long absence, fans packed the sidelines and were welcomed back into the stands in the Field House. Although athletes still had to don masks in the weight room, and the volleyball team stayed one side of the court for the entire game, competitive fall sports were truly back, and the focus was on what happened between the lines, where it should be.

Recaps In Alphabetical Order

Cross-Country | The girls and boys cross-country teams had one of the longest waits to return to competition. Their first race was not until October, while all other fall teams had began competing in early September—but the teams made the most of their condensed season. Saints boys cross-country had a lot of improvement overall and a number of runners setting personal records. Alec Finch ’22 and Harry Murphy ’23 provided team leadership, and consistently finished as the top runners for St. Andrew’s in their races, but underformers also made a name for themselves and showed that the future is bright for this team. In the New Castle County Championship race on November 6, Chris Onsomu ’25 and Shawn Li ’24 ran personal bests. Chris ran a 20-second PR, broke 20 minutes, and became a scoring varsity runner for the first time. Another highlight from counties was Kyle Share ’23, who finished 50 seconds ahead of his best time and broke 19 minutes. 

Saints girls cross-country was a force to be reckoned with this season. The trio of Lily Murphy ’23, Lia Miller ’23, and Leah Horgan ’25 were the top three runners for the Saints in almost every race. The season highlight came at the Delaware School Independent Conference (DISC) Championship race, hosted by Tatnall School. Tatnall consistently has success on their home course and took the top two spots in the race, while the Saints claimed the 3, 4, and 5 spots with Lily finishing third at 20:25.41, Lia fourth at 20:32.85, and Leah fifth at 20:53.68. And while these top three finishes for St. Andrew’s were impressive, the next two runners would determine the Saints’ final team standing. Thanks to great runs by Emma Hopkins ’23, who finished 11th (23:32.10), and Caroline Meers ’24 finishing right behind her at 12th (23:35.55), these finishes propelled the Saints ahead of Tatnall and into the top spot to claim the 2021 DISC Championship! 

Field Hockey | This season, Saints field hockey was thrilled to be back on the field after two years away from competition, and the game experience gained by the players this fall will be crucial to the development of the program over the next couple of seasons. The big win for the program came against Middletown High School under the lights on October 18. The game did not start the way the Saints were hoping; the team let in a goal early to give Middletown a 1-0 lead, but momentum turned in the second quarter. The ball was passed to Alani Davila ’22 on an offensive corner to the top of the circle. Alani took a big hit and Helen Heuer ’23 was able to tip it in to tie the game. Shortly after, the Saints had another corner. The Saints played it to Alani again, and this time Kaki Ackermann ’23 tipped in the ball to score the second goal for the Saints and put them up 2-1. In front of a supportive road crowd—thanks to the 100+ students that came to the game on SAS buses—the Saints defense held strong through the second half to win 2-1. Another bright spot for the Saints was Addy Zorrilla ’24 coming in to start at goalkeeper halfway through the season when Piper Jenkins ’22 went out with an injury. Addy kept the Saints in competition, and totalled multiple ten-save games late in the season. The Saints did not finish with the overall record the team had hoped for at the beginning of the season, they came together strong as a group. Throughout the season, Coach Davila emphasized how important it was for the athletes to be back on the field together, for the seniors to help teach underformers how to play the game, and for the underformers to carry on the torch when they graduate. 

Football | This was a season of record-breakers and a return to the playoffs after many years without a postseason. The Saints had a great start to the season that helped set them up for their playoff push later in the season. The defense only allowed 13 points in the first four games of the season. The team had a tough loss to Tower Hill School but responded with record-breaking performances against Glasgow High School by Michael Lilley ’22 and Brandon Graves ’22. The quarterback and wide receiver (respectively) put on one of the best shows in recent memory by two athletes wearing SAS red and black. Michael threw for five touchdown passes on the day. These five TD passes and 355 total yards passing, and Brandon’s 286 yards receiving and his four receiving touchdowns, are both single-game St. Andrew's records. Brandon’s 286 yards also set the all-time single game record for the state of Delaware. The team’s signature win came against the Maryland School for the Deaf on October 30. The team needed one more regular season win to clinch a playoff spot for the first time in well over a decade. The Saints had an early 21-6 lead, but MSD stormed back before halftime to make it a 21-20 game. In the second half, Tony Wang ’22 connected on a 30-yard field goal and Nick Osbourne ’23 punched the ball into the endzone on a one-yard run to extend the lead to 31-20. MSD was not finished; they scored and converted the 2-point conversion to make it 31-28. The Saints executed a well-run four-minute drill and were able to run out the clock to secure their playoff berth. The team ended up losing in the first round of the state tournament, but Coach Moffitt is excited to build on this year’s success, and emphasized to his returning players that this success is sustainable in the years to come. 

Boys Soccer | The boys soccer team made a run in this year’s state championship tournament all the way to the final match—the first time the team has reached the final since 1981. The story of how the team ended up in the final is just short of incredible. Saints soccer looked like a lock to make the state tournament with three matches left in the regular season; they had a record of 8-3-1 and needed one more win. The team lost a close match against Appoquinimink 0-1 and then tied Wilmington Friends School 1-1. In the final match of the season, the team dropped a heartbreaker in the waning minutes of double overtime to rival Tower Hill School. The Saints also lost their head coach and a player to red cards in the match, meaning they would be without them if they did in fact make the state tournament—and having dropped two and tied one, Saints soccer was now on uncertain ground as to where they stood. But the team rallied around each other, just hoping for one more match—and they were given that shot by the state selection committee, but faced a difficult hill to climb as the final seed to make the tournament. In the first match against fifth seed Delaware Military Academy, both teams could not find the back of the net and the match went to the dreaded penalty kick shootout that has been the Saints’ Achilles heel in the state tournament for over a decade. (The team has lost in PKs in state tournament games for at least six of the last ten years.) This time, the curse was broken as Tony Wang ’22, Jake Kelly ’22, Isaac Lawrence ’23, and Crawford Seeley ’22 all scored to give the Saints a victory. The quarterfinal match was against fourth-seed Wilmington Friends School, to whom the Saints had lost twice earlier in the season. Tony Wang ’22 was able to find the back of the net in the second half and the team shocked Friends 1-0, setting up a semifinal match and victory against ninth seed Newark Charter School. 

In the state championship game, it looked as if the Saints were destined to win when the score was 0-0 at halftime. Unfortunately the clock struck midnight in the second half and Caravel pulled away for a 4-0 victory. The Saints did not walk away with the first place trophy, but where they had stood merely two weeks early, second in the state was an impressive achievement. While it is easy to give the goal-scorers a lot of the attention, the Saints defense was key the entire tournament with Jake, Ned Read ’22, Talan Esposito ’24, and Crawford working as a cohesive team to help the vocal goalie Emmanuel Appenteng ’23 record three straight shutouts on their way to the DIAA final. 

Volleyball | The volleyball team was back on the court and excited to welcome fans back in the Sipprelle Field House stands. The team kicked off the season with a 2-2 start, but hit a bump when they lost a few close matches in the fifth and final sets. After that, a few injuries had the Saints reworking their lineup in search of consistency—which they found on Parents Weekend in their match against Sanford School. This was a wonderful back-and-forth volleyball match, with each set decided by less than five points. Sanford won the first set but the Saints came back and won the second and third sets, both by a score of 25-21. Sanford went out early in the fourth set but the Saints came back and almost completed the comeback; at one point the teams were squared at 24-24. Sanford won the next two points and sent the match to a final fifth set. Both teams went back and forth and were once again tied at 14-14. This time the Saints were the ones to win back-to-back points to claim the set and the match. This was also the final home match for the seniors, sending them off with a great win.

All-State / Conference / District

Girls Cross Country 
All-State / All-Conference / All-County
Lily Murphy ’23
Lia Miller ’23
Leah Horgan ’25

Field Hockey
1st Team All-Conference Offense
Alani Davila ’22

2nd Team All-Conference Defense
Parker Friedli ’22
Molly Starkey ’23

Football
1st Team All-District Offense
QB - Mike Lilley ’22
WR - Brandon Graves ’22
OT - Nick Oxnam ’22
OG - Ibrahim Kazi ’23
K - Tony Wang ’22

2nd Team All-District Offense 
WR - Griffin Patterson ’24

1st Team All-District Defense
DE - Nick Oxnam ’22
DT - Phin Hunt ’22
LB - Will Dulaney ’23
DB - Nick Osbourne ’23
P - Tony Wang ’22

2nd Team All-District Defense 
DT - Ibrahim Kazi ’23
LB - Ford Chapman ’23

Soccer 
1st Team All-State 
Liam Hurtt ’22

2nd Team All-State
Isaac Lawrence ’23

3rd Team All-State
Tony Wang ’22

1st Team All-Conference 
Ema Appenteng ’23
Liam Hurtt ’22
Isaac Lawrence ’23
Tony Wang ’22

2nd Team All-Conference 
Jared Horgan ’22
Jake Kelly ’22
Crawford Seeley ’22