With two goals in the final four minutes, King’s Fork’s field hockey team rallied for a 3-2 victory over visiting Oscar Smith on Wednesday afternoon, giving the Lady Bulldogs a program-record third Southeastern District win on the season.

Given what coach Mollie Turner’s team has been through in the last couple weeks, with her team being in a bus accident a week ago Monday just south of the James River Bridge while returning to Suffolk after a match in Newport News, just having a squad to put on the field is a victory.

“We’re missing four starters and five or six varsity players,” said Turner.

“We had to forfeit our JV game on Monday just to play any game at all,” said Turner. KF lost 8-0 at Bethel on Monday.

Some of the injuries are from the bus accident and some are from earlier in the season, but Turner lists her two starting central defenders, a starting forward and her top goalkeeper as out. A couple other players are playing despite injuries. There are two concussions among the injuries and more sprains than Turner can count.

Though not physically injured, midfielder Shawnda Lee played Wednesday even though her mother is in the hospital said Turner.

“She maybe shouldn’t really be playing today, but she wanted to stay here for the team,” said Turner.

KF gained a 1-0 lead 15 minutes into Wednesday’s match when Ashley Carter, who was the main offensive playmaker all match long for the Lady Bulldogs, scored an unassisted goal.

A weak clearing attempt by Oscar Smith was intercepted by Carter at the top of the OS arc and a couple strides inside the arc, Carter slapped a hard drive into the back of the cage.

The score remained 1-0 until shortly into the second half when Oscar Smith scored on a penalty corner. The Lady Tigers made it a 2-1 lead with about six minutes left in the match, scoring on another penalty corner.

KF’s tying goal started with Carter dribbling into the OS arc and sending a shot on goal that was kicked away by the Lady Tiger goalie. Lindsay Goben stopped the rebound near the right post and sent a pass across the goal and past the keeper. Kumiko Lippold was on the other side of the cage to jab in Goben’s pass from point blank range.

A tie would’ve been a good comeback, but less than two minutes later, KF swarmed the OS arc again and it paid off.

Carter sent a low, hard cross in from the right wing. The ball deflected off the foot of an Oscar Smith player and toward the left post, where Lippold was again to guide the ball into the cage for the game-winning goal.

King’s Fork outshot Oscar Smith 14-5. KF keeper Kenya Mattocks made three saves.

Mattocks started the season as the second-string JV goalkeeper, but injuries meant that Wednesday was her first varsity start.

“When Oscar Smith scored the second goal, the girls were saying, ‘We got this. We’re going to do this,’” said Turner.

“They did everything they could and we lucked out a bit at the end,” said Turner.

“There’s definitely a lot of determination that wasn’t there in the beginning of the season,” said Turner, who’s in her first season coaching the Lady Bulldogs.

All three Southeastern District wins have come by one-goal margins for KF. King’s Fork (3-5-1, 3-3-0) plays again on Monday afternoon at Southampton.