Despite a strong effort against the Pioneers, the Matadors lost at home 3-0. CHS senior Caley Seaton recorded a hat trick, scoring all three goals of the game. The Pioneer defense had a strong showing, shutting out the Matadors and getting key clearances throughout the game.

“I can’t get the ball without [the] defense passing it up to me,” Seaton said. “[The hat trick was] definitely a team effort.”

The game was hotly contested right from the start, but 12 minutes into the first half, the Matadors were caught off-guard as Seaton scored her first goal.

Using the momentum, the Pioneers controlled an advantageous field position, eventually leading to Seaton’s second score of the game nine minutes later. The Matadors, on the other hand, had trouble penetrating the Pioneer midfield and defense through the rest of the first half.

“We had to get our feet right,” MVHS head coach Denise Eachus said. “[If] our feet were pointing in the right direction, we would have been able to have stronger plays.”

Just about three minutes into the second half, Seaton scored again at 27:37 for her third goal.

However, the Matadors turned the tide following the goal. They were finally able to produce a sustained offensive attack with strong defensive support. After a save by senior goalkeeper Mariel Little at 16:42, junior Hannah DeBaets led the team on a counterattack. Even without scoring, the players found new life in the game.

As the game dwindled down to its final minutes, the Matadors were faced with many opportunities on offense, but they again could not capitalize.

The best chance came at 3:30, when the team was able to crowd the goal and launch a shot at goal following a penalty corner. Unfortunately, the ball rolled out of bounds, ending the drive and the last hope for the Matadors.

“We just didn’t have it today,” Eachus said. “There were some times where we needed to maintain possession of the ball more.”

Before the game, the team had to overcome multiple pieces of bad news. The tournament at Davis was cancelled due to a lack of participants, although the team still plans to go there for team bonding. The team needed something to celebrate to get past that tough stretch.

“We came into this game and we really felt like we needed to win this,” captain senior Kristen Tatsuno said. “I think we really pushed ourselves hard but it didn’t turn out in our favor today.”

The Matadors' next game will be on Oct. 2 at Davis High School.