After being shut out by Dulaney three weeks ago, Hereford’s field hockey team has worked hard to generate more offensive pressure.

The Bulls outscored their next five opponents 22-0, but their second meeting with Dulaney Friday night would be the true test. The Lions went into the game having won six of the past eight regular-season meetings between the top two teams in Baltimore County.

This time, the No. 15 Bulls applied that offensive pressure early, scoring the first goal a little over six minutes into the game, en route to a 2-0 victory over No. 14 Dulaney.

“We worked really hard on our formation,” said junior Kennedy Ziegler, who had a goal and an assist. “Since we played them the first time, we’ve been working on being so much wider and working on the inside-outside passes. And I think we just really wanted this win because we lost the first time and we needed to pull through this time especially for our seniors.”

All of that offensive pressure helped the host Bulls (6-2) force seven penalty corners and the Bulls scored both of their goals on corners.

Riley Hackett set up the first goal with a drive down the middle where Ziegler tapped the ball past lunging Dulaney goalie Addie Erdman. Erdman then dove behind her as she and defender M.K. Anglim reached for the ball, but it ricocheted to Hereford forward Katie Burks, who slipped it in from the left side.

The Bulls added their second goal with 11:11 left in the third quarter. Erdman, who finished with seven saves, stopped Lydia Bennett’s initial shot, but the ball rolled to Ziegler on the other side of the cage. Her shot slipped just under a defender’s stick and then just under Erdman’s stick.

The Lions (4-3) had their chances to score, but a tough Hereford defense held them off. Goalie Bailey Berquist had three saves, but defender Lily Walton and Maddie Magliocca also deflected a few shots and cleared away a handful of balls low in the circle.

The Bulls defense, including Anna Knepley and Maddie Fuller, notched their fifth shutout of the season.

“Their defense is phenomenal,” Dulaney coach Meredith Lott said. “They’re there before we even shoot the ball. I think even when we get it in their defensive circle, they are ready to take it off our stick or block tackle to clear it out, but they picked off, I feel like, a lot of shots that were going into the cage.”

Hereford coach Caitlin Duvall said the two early losses, including a season-opening 4-1 setback against No. 3 Garrison Forest, showed the Bulls what they needed to work on.

“We’ve just been building on something each game,” she said. “I think we have the roles figured out and who should be doing what on the field, so just through the past several games, we’ve figured out how to work as a unit, we’ve increased our communication and thinking about different game situations and how to come out on the right side of those.”

Hereford’s fast turf was an issue for the Lions whose home field is grass. Lott didn’t make excuses — the Bulls struggled to adjust to the grass when Dulaney beat them in September — but switching back and forth takes a major adjustment.

“We’re unfortunate that we don’t have the opportunity to practice on such a surface,” Lott said, “so I either take the girls to the tennis courts or we go into the wrestling area at school just because that kind of models the turf surface, but I just think Hereford’s stick skills and their speed, obviously on this surface, were a lot better tonight.”

For the Lions, who won the first game 1-0 on a second half goal from Alex Erdman, Friday’s loss won’t hurt them in the county Division I standings. The first game counts toward the division, so the Lions are 4-0 and the Bulls are 4-1.

The rivals could be headed for a third meeting in the county championship game on Oct. 25. They have played for the title 11 times in the past 12 years with Hereford winning 10. Eight of those games have been one-goal games and Hereford won in a shootout last year.

“It’s a big rivalry. It’s fun,” Walton said. “We love playing them. They’re the most exciting games of the season.”

NO. 15 HEREFORD 2, NO. 14 DULANEY 0

D 0 0 0 0 — 0

H 1 0 1 0 — 2

GOALS: H—Katie Burks, Kennedy Ziegler.

ASSISTS: D—Kennedy Ziegler.

SAVES: D—Addie Erdman 7; H—Bailey Berquist 3.