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Around lunchtime Tuesday, the Tuscarora High field hockey team learned its Class 3A West Region opening round contest against Frederick High had been moved from its natural grass field at the school to Linganore High's synthetic playing surface due to inclement weather.

The No. 8 seeded Titans' home field advantage had been nullified, but it was no matter. Battling the ninth-seeded Cadets, as well as the elements, Tuscarora came out strong and held on for a 2-0 victory. Tuscarora will visit top-seeded Quince Orchard of Montgomery County at 6 p.m. Thursday.

"That was our game plan to play 110 percent throughout the entire game," Tuscarora head coach Julie Lunn said. "We want to finish games. We want to play a full 60 minutes. And that's out goal. We wanted to leave it all on the field today, and we did."

The Titans (4-8) found their rhythm early in the first half, punching in both of their goals in less than a two-minute span.

Sophomore forward-midfielder Sandy Marin struck first with an unassisted score at 20:44. Just over a minute later, senior forward-midfielder Kiersten Bumgardner connected with junior forward-midfielder Maddie Borek for an insurance tally.

Continuing with the pressure, Tuscarora unleashed 13 shots and earned nine penalty corners. The Cadets managed only six shots and two penalty corners.

Tending to the Titans' cage, junior goalie Emily Valin recorded five saves. She was able to relax and just play her game thanks to her teams' pair of early scores.

"It's great," Valin said. "We've been working really hard in practice and for my team to score those goals and to do my job and keep them out is fantastic."

Lunn said her girls were excited about the change in venue. With its perfect conditions, Linganore's field turf was more than conducive to the Titans' preferred up-tempo manner of play.

"We kind of lost our home field advantage, but we hadn't gotten a chance to play on turf this year," Lunn said. "That was exciting, and we play well on fast fields."

Frederick continued to fight later in the contest, nearly knocking in a late goal off a shot by senior forward Jackie Ferretti. The Cadets' senior goalkeeper Mary Kate O'Boyle had 16 saves.

Under the tutelage of first year head coach Valerie Wittkamper; Frederick finished the season at 1-12, with its lone victory coming during their season opener against Liberty.

Wittkamper is the Cadets' fourth head coach in the past four seasons, but plans on being at the helm for the 2010 campaign.

"I'm very proud of them," Wittkamper said of her players. "They play hard all the time."