By Zander Sherry
On Friday, FVHS field hockey went up against Harvard-Westlake and finished with a 1-2 loss. The team showed good defensive performance, but failed to rack up enough goals to overcome Harvard-Westlake’s offense.
The first quarter mainly consisted of back-and-forth possession and ended with no goals being scored by either side. However, the Barons had a chance to score with a penalty corner, and made an attempt to shoot halfway through the quarter, but the Wolverines held up, and from then, it was more back and forth.
A foul by the Barons in the second quarter led to Harvard-Westlake getting their first goal, and the Wolverines got close to their second goal as well but missed. Then the possession was back and forth, with excellent blocks from both sides.
At 0-1, the Barons made a series of consistent passes to get to the Wolverines’ striking circle and were met with a cluster of defense, giving the Barons another penalty shot. With an assist by sophomore Lola Korhonen, sophomore Tatum Koby made the Baron’s first shot, the team’s first goal of the season.
The quarter ended with a tie, 1-1, and more consistent defense from players like sophomore Makayla Velazquez, who had strong hits and swift keepaways from the opposing team.
In the second to last quarter of the game, Harvard-Westlake got close to making their second goal, but the Barons’ defense held up. From then, it was more back-and-forth possession, with multiple fouls.
With one minute left in the quarter, the Barons got close to advancing their score to get into the lead but missed, and the timer ran out before they could capitalize on their field position.
Early in the last quarter, the Wolverines scored and the Barons were unable to make their second goal. The game came extremely close, with great Baron field position like in the previous quarter, thanks to a block from senior Hannah Epling and a hard drive across the field.
With the timer running out, the Baron morale was still high and they were not disappointed with the game they played. The final score was 1-2.
“Today I think it was really kind of the best game we’ve played so far. The first ones we just couldn’t put it together,” head coach Mary-Ellen Esquer said. “And today the offense put some passes together, things are starting to click.”
With a varsity team of mostly new players and underclassmen, the coach and the team hope to see more improvement and coordination with the more games played.
“[We try] each game to get better, and this was a real improvement,” Esquer said.
FVHS Field Hockey’s next game will be a non-league home match against Newport Harbor on Sep. 23 at 3:30 p.m.
