On Tuesday, September 29, the varsity girls field hockey team faced a 7-0 defeat against a highly skilled Los Gatos, leaving them with a league record of 1-2.

Los Gatos came into the game as the back-to-back CCS champions and on a win streak that dates back to 2012. With this in mind, the Eagles set out determined to improve themselves against their tough competition, but they knew that they were going to have to play their best game yet in order to hold off the Wildcats.

“Heading into the game, we knew it was gonna be a tough one because last year they beat us pretty badly… so our mental game going into this was just to play our hockey and not worry about the score or whatever they were doing and to just play to the best of our ability,” senior Adera Ahern said.

Soon after the first whistle blew, it became evident which team would dominate the game. A combination of quick restarts, impressive passing patterns and well-developed set plays executed with an unrelenting pressure and aggression allowed the Wildcats to dominate the first half, walking away from the first 30 minutes with a 5-0 lead over the Eagles.

The break allowed the team to regroup and close in on the areas of their play they were going to have to improve in the second half.

“During halftime we talked about playing smart and going to the ball, and defending the width because we knew they were trying to draw corners,” senior Kyra Kliman said.

The successful halftime discussion motivated the Eagles to continue their battle and recover from the first half. As the final whistle blew, the Eagles walked away with a 7-0 loss, allowing only two goals to be scored on them in the second half and even earning their share of offensive attacks that just missed the goal line.

“I’m actually really happy with [the result], because even though we lost 7-0, we all played really really well and we all got to work on whatever we needed to work on,” Adera said.

The Eagles’ next game will be on Tuesday, October 6 at Cupertino, and their next home game will be Thursday, October 8 against Homestead.