The Matadors took the field on Sept. 26, anxious to face their competitors, who were in a higher league. Captain and senior Heather Migdal commented on how players were feeling lethargic from their previous game earlier in the week.

“Monday, we were really pumped up [when we played against Presentation HS] and we had a really awesome game,” Migdal said. “We tried to take [our energy] into Tino on Tuesday but we didn’t have enough time to recover mentally and physically.”

In preparation for the game, the team had focused on keeping up their momentum from their previous games and implementing certain skills and techniques that worked for them in the past. Despite having to face their stronger competitors, the Matadors worked to maintain communication between members on the field.

“Tino is in the upper division so we knew that it was going to be a hard fought battle,” Midgal said. “We were working together pretty well but we had breakdowns in our communication so they got through and had a lot of time up on offense. They got a few nice goals in when weren’t as marked up as we should have been.”

However, senior and goalie Sureena Hukkoo also said that when she and her teammates are under pressure, they tend to forget the skills they had practiced and try to be aggressive instead.

With constant reminders from their coach to “make a mark,” the Matadors maintained strong defensively throughout the game and kept the Pioneers at bay with tackles and long passes. The team successfully deflected shots at the goal by the opposing team thanks to Hukkoo’s sharp saves.

“We had one fast break on offense but it was always generally [defensive],” Hukkoo said. “We fought them off really well [by implementing] free hits and drives which is going all the way down the field and that helped us get to the offense’s side.”

According to Midgal,the team hopes to focus on three main goals: communication between players, pre planning and hot boxing, when two players surround an offensive player and one is engaging and the other is forcing them to engage. With more practice on basic technique, the Matadors hope for a win in the near future.

Their next home game is against St. Francis on Oct. 1.