Varsity girls field hockey charged headfirst into their game against Valley Christian Thursday, Oct. 16. Scoring in the first quarter, the team held the ground down to cement their 1–0 win. 

In their last matchup on Sept. 23, the Eagles gained an early lead but couldn’t seal the deal, ending with a 1–1 tie.

“We let a goal go in the last five seconds of the game, which was disappointing,” Donahue said. 

This time, however, the Eagles were determined to get their revenge, striking first just five minutes into the first quarter. In the second quarter, neither the Eagles nor the Warriors could replicate the Eagles’ swift beginning goal.

“When the other team got the ball further down the field than we were expecting, we would chaotically recover back on the field instead of communicating,” assistant coach Maggie Evans said.

The teams spent the remainder of the game in a tense stalemate, fighting for the ball at the halfway line. 

“We were starting to get frustrated,” senior Gwen Mello said. “We kept hitting the ball into people’s sticks.”

Freshman Quinley McCarroll said the team did not do as well as she hoped.

“We all had good energy, but based on our past track record, we were a little bit ‘iffy,’” Quinley said.

In the fourth quarter, senior Alison Wilson was yellow-carded — wrongfully, according to Alison’s mom — and sent to the sidelines, losing the Eagles a valuable player. After the required five minutes on the sidelines, Alison returned to the game, evening the player numbers once again. Despite an intense fight, the Eagles held their lead 1–0. 

“We got a little bit panicked,” Quinley said. “But overall, we had a lot of confidence going in there and we played really well.” 

The Eagles now have a 5–4–3 record and will play against Fremont High School at home on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 5 p.m.