Girls Field Hockey Won the District and Region but Fell Short At States

The varsity field hockey team started off their post-season journey, ranked third in the district but ended up being number one. On Oct. 22, they started off with a 4-0 win against John Champe with three goals by district player of the year, Abby Asuncion, and one goal by Chloe St Francis.

Next the team moved on to play their arch rivals Stone Bridge on Oct. 24 in the district semi-finals with a goal right off the bat by both teams leaving the score tied at 1-1 for the majority of the game. Junior Abby Detorie, named first team All-District and All-Region, raised the score to 2-1, before a goal by Stone Bridge tied it back up, 2-2. Junior Maggie Flanagan solidified the 3-2 win with a final goal to finish off the Bulldogs.

The team then moved on to the district championships on Oct. 25 where they took on Broad Run looking for the title of District Champions. With two goals by Asuncion and two goals by Flanagan, the girls won 4-3 over the Spartans. Junior forward Eva Brennan was injured for the game but didn’t miss cheering on her team from the sidelines. “Even though I was injured it was such an amazing feeling to win the championship because had come in as number three and proved that we were number one,” said Brennan.

Regionals

Going into regionals, the team knew they had a lot of prove because they were defending their regional title, and they knew they had to play harder than they ever had before. They did just that by defeating Rock Ridge in their quarter-final regional game, with a score of 5-1, with two goals by Regional Player of the Year Abby Asuncion, two by St Francis and one by Flanagan.

On Oct. 30, they played Briar Woods, a team they had lost to previously in the season 2-1, in the semi-finals. In the first half, a goal was scored by Briar Woods leaving the team down 0-1 going into second half.

During the second half, Asuncion tied the game 1-1 and sent the team into overtime. Asuncion scored the game winning goal, securing the team’s spot in the state tournament and advancing the team to the regional championships. “Playing Briar Woods was very stressful. It’s an evenly matched game and it came down to an overtime goal,” said Detorie. “Winning was a relief because it could have been our last game.”

After a tough win against Briar Woods, the team moved onto the regional championship to play their arch rivals, for the second time, for the title of regional champions. The game started off with a goal by Flanagan, but Stone Bridge Meghan Flaherty responded two minutes later with a goal for the Bulldogs. Flaherty’s goal ended up being their only score. St. Francis, Flanagan and Asuncion each scored and brought the final score to 4-1 making the Panthers victorious as regional champions for the second year in a row. “It was exciting because Stone Bridge is one of the best teams in the county, and it’s always rewarding to be able to beat them and prove that we’re the better team,” said Detorie.

States

The team’s post-season run came to an end on Nov. 1 at home against Mountain View. The state quarter final went into overtime and ended with a final score of 0-1.