The field hockey team beat Huntington Beach High School 2-1 today to continue its undefeated season. The squad is currently 43-0 in the last three seasons.
The last time the two teams faced off was in the LAFHA Championship last November. In the game today, the Oilers scored first, but the Wolverines quickly responded with a goal by midfielder Fiene Oerlemans ’22 . By the end of the first half, Oerlemans scored again, putting the Wolverines up 2-1. Despite scoring two additional goals, the points were called back due to dangerous play and obstruction.
First Half
For most of the first half, the Oilers kept the Wolverine offense at bay by dominating the time of possession on offense, but during halftime, the team changed its mentality before the second half, Sara Maniscalco ’21 said.
“At half time we talked about how to work on getting the ball around their defense instead of trying to go through them,” Maniscalco said.
After winning by only one goal, the game came down to the final seconds, captain Sam Yeh ’20 said.
“I’d say the game was pretty nerve wracking because Huntington [Beach] is a really strong team and they clearly wanted to beat us, especially because it was the first time playing them after last championship game,” Yeh said. “It was really came down to the last second, and overall was just a pretty stressful game. Moving forward, we’re going to work on accurate passing and helping teammates more when they’re faced with multiple players on the other team”
Team Goals
Going into their next game, the team’s main focus will be starting the first few minutes stronger, Maniscalco said.
“Before league starts, we’re going to try and get better at starting our strongest from the beginning instead of later in the game,” Maniscalco said. “Due to the start, this game got a little stressful in the beginning but our team is always able to come back and work harder together.”
Thousand Oaks High School
The teams’ next game will be on Sept. 19 against Thousand Oaks High School. This will be the Wolverines’ first league game of the season. Currently, the Lancers are 0-4-1.
