CORRECTION 10/26: An earlier version of this article incorrectly described junior Kristina Wang’s second goal, which was a result of a corner shot.

Tied for third place in the league against rivals Cupertino High School, the field hockey team knew that it was an important game. Win, and they were ahead of CHS in league standings. Lose, and they dropped below them.

Going into the game, they knew they were going up against the odds— the last time they had played Cupertino, they had tied the team during regulation time, at 1-1, and the game went into overtime. Field hockey uses the “Golden Goal Rule”, stating that the first team that scores during overtime wins. CHS managed to score the final goal in overtime, and win the game.

In the first half, MVHS had a couple breakaways to the CHS goal. CHS, however, was able to connect several passes and distribute the ball evenly, allowing them to maintain possession of the ball.

Captain senior Allegra Ziegler Hunts led the team offensively, and mad
e several dangerous breakaways to the CHS goal, but was fouled in the fifteenth minute of the game, and forced to be substituted out.

The team persisted towards the CHS goal, but CHS managed to maintain possession of the ball for severa
l minutes. Their team made a breakaway to goal, and the CHS forward was one-on-one with the MVHS goalie, who made a valiant effort to prevent CHS from scoring and did not allow them to take the lead.

Two minutes before halftime, the score was still tied at 0-0, and MVHS pushed dangerously close to the CHS goal with several breakaways. With just over a minute left, MVHS received a corner shot. Captain junior Kristina Wang passed the ball in, and the CHS goalie and captain senior Mallory Strom scrambled to the ball. The CHS goalie saved the ball and deflected it, but Wang ran to it and was able to get the ball in the back of the net, with only 58 seconds left on the clock.

“Scoring that first goal felt great, because I haven’t been scoring since pre-season,” Wang said. “Getting to score [with 58 seconds left] in this game pumped me up.”

And 58 seconds later, the half ended with a 1-0 lead, in MVHS’ favor.

The second half started with a long shot by MVHS, which missed its target. However, for several minutes after the shot, CHS maintained possession of the ball, and the ball never left MVHS’ half.

In the 17th minute, however, after another corner shot, Wang neared the CHS goal and managed to score another goal. The team was determined not to let their lead get away or  become overconfident. MVHS coach Denise Eachus wanted them to maintain their motivation and shouted, “Stay aggressive, MV!”

Unfortunately, CHS used their 2-0 deficit to regain momentum, and scored two goals within a span of seven minutes. With only two minutes remaining in regulation play, MVHS pushed forward aggressively to score a last goal and put themselves in the lead, but was unable to score again. The game, at a score of 2-2, headed into overtime.

The team realized that it was almost a repeat of history—tied regulation, going into overtime.

“We’ve played them before, lost to them in overtime, in the like last ten seconds, so we felt like it was a winnable game,” Strom said.

In overtime, MVHS connected several passes and threatened the rival goal. Wang hustled to the ball, and junior Danielle Koontz out-sprinted the opposing CHS player to get the ball several times. However, while MVHS attacked forward, there was only one defender. CHS got the ball, and while the MVHS team hustled to get back, CHS’ two forwards connected passes around the defender successfully, and were soon past the lone defender. A CHS forward dribbled it down the line, and centered it to another forward waiting on top of the goal, who successfully nailed the ball into the back of the net.

“I feel like I could have recovered back faster, to help the defense and help prevent that breakaway from actually occurring, and having more of a defensive push,” Koontz said. “It’s frustrating that we couldn’t do something different to change the outcome, and we lost to Cupertino the exact same way we lost to them last time.”