The undefeated Lakeland High School Lady Cavaliers field hockey team produced a strong showing against one of their toughest district opponents, defeating visiting Grassfield 5-0 on Wednesday evening.

“We’re just continuing to work and continuing to get better, and I thought they did well today executing,” Lakeland head coach Tara Worley said.

Lakeland showed marked improvement in this game over recent play that had been a bit flat.

“We came with intensity this game, and we didn’t let anything frustrate us. We just went at it and kept on scoring,” junior Jamee Albright said. “The intensity was better, the shots were better, the passes were better, everything was better. It was just more solid.”

The Lady Cavaliers (14-0, 8-0) were led by junior Summer Parker, who scored four goals against the Lady Grizzlies.

“She kills me, like, in a good way,” Worley said. “People are firing from the top, the ball gets deflected around, and she’s the one there often to pick up the trash or often she creates the goal. So, she does it from both ends. And they were marking her tight today.”

“I thought I did good making shots in the corner and especially getting passes from my teammates,” Parker said.

Lakeland took 18 penalty corners compared to only three for Grassfield. Against Western Branch two games before, Worley felt that her team did not perform well in this particular facet of the game, but she saw improvement this time out.

“I would have rather had more shots off of them, but I thought that we were executing them,” she said.

Lakeland took a total of 16 shots on goal during the course of the game.

The Lady Cavaliers held a 2-0 lead with 15 minutes to go in the first half on goals by Parker and junior Jessie Cox. In the last 10 minutes, the Lady Grizzlies had their best opportunities to score with two of their three penalty corners. The ball was at the other end of the field most of the time.

“Our defense came through today strong, which it had been struggling a little bit — especially on grass — just staying poised, staying calm, and getting the balls outside,” she said.

Juniors Jamee Albright, Kasey Smith, Kristen Vick, Kelsey O’Leary, and a returning Alexis Albright all set up goals for the Lady Cavs.

This was Alexis Albright’s first game back after sustaining a broken lower joint in her thumb from getting hit by a stick several games ago. Worley had talked about saving her for the postseason, but relented on Wednesday.

“I felt great,” Alexis Albright said. “It was really exciting. A little nervous at first, but I was really glad she let me play.”

Next on the schedule is Friday’s match-up against First Colonial at the U.S. Field Hockey National Training Center in Virginia Beach.

“They will be probably the best team we’ve played all season, next to Cox,” Worley said. “They’re undefeated, as well, and they’re the top of their district, and they were also the state champions last year. So, we won it 2010, they won it 2011. And they have a lot of players returning this year, so they’re going to be tough.”