Varsity girls field hockey wrapped up its fall season with a tense 2–4 CCS Division II semifinal loss. After two full overtimes, the No. 1 seed Eagles lost to the No. 4 Valley Christian Warriors in a shootout Saturday, Nov. 8, coming off a 5–1 victory against Monterey High School in the quarterfinals.
Despite the loss, the team reached a historic high by advancing to the semifinals — a playoff level they hadn’t reached in more than 10 years.
“The fall season has been pretty tough, but we played really well,” junior Asha Rammohan said. “We just ended up not quite getting there, which is alright.”
The game opened with a strong Eagle offense, with the team hovering near the Warriors’ goal waiting for a shooting opportunity. Close to scoring, seconds before they could send the ball into the net, the Warriors launched it back down the field.
“We probably had a 70-30% possession of the ball,” junior Kat Smith said. “So it was unfortunate that we just couldn’t get a shot in.”
The Eagles quickly regained possession, keeping the battle close in the second quarter. But even with a series of on-target shots, the Warriors’ goalie blocked every scoring attempt by the Eagles.
“We had a bunch of chances to score and we didn’t,” head coach Mary Donahue said. “That ended up determining the game.”
The third and fourth quarters were a fierce back-and-forth, with both teams in a panic to change the scoreboard in their favor. The ball traveled back and forth across the field as each team attempted numerous shots.
“Valley Christian had a lot of good interceptions,” Asha said. “But we didn’t really have any obvious flaws. It was just an unlucky game.”
As regulation time concluded with the scoreboard still empty, the game moved to overtime. A loud cheer erupted from the stands as the Eagles were inches away from scoring the first goal of the game. The Warriors quickly blocked it, and the ball was fought for in another clash of sticks.
“We were being more selfless as a team,” Kat said. “Rather than being like, ‘I’m going to get the ball into the goal myself,’ we were more like, ‘Okay, let’s watch our teammate try to get a goal and cheer her on.’”
Ten minutes later, and nothing — the scoreboard didn’t budge, leading to a second overtime. And another 10 minutes later, the stalemate continued.
Twenty minutes into overtime, the game entered a best-of-five shootout.
“It was about as even a game as you could possibly get,” Donahue said. “Which is the way both our previous games against Valley Christian went.”
Five players from each team lined up in a row. Alternating teams, players attempted a shot with no goalie blocking. All chatter and cheer from the audience paused as they anxiously watched the shootout unfold.
The Eagles started strong, shooting two balls into the net, but ultimately missed three goals. The Warriors remained consistent and made four goals to champion the game, as a mixture of joy and disappointment arose from the bleachers.
“Every single player I put in the game played with 100% effort and 1000% energy,” Donahue said. “We played some really pretty hockey.”
The Eagles finished off the season with an 11—8—3 record overall and a 6—4—2 record in the De Anza league to finish third, a significant improvement from fifth place last season.
