Field hockey team suffers tough loss in CCS quarterfinals

After tying No. 4-seeded Saint Francis in quarterfinal game play 0-0, tying them again in two 7-minute overtime periods and ending the first round of five penalty strokes 1-1 due to senior Courtney Ruppel’s goal, the girls’ field hockey team lost to the Saint Francis Lancers in the second penalty stroke-off when Saint Francis scored five strokes compared to Saratoga’s four.

“It’s heartbreaking,” coach Lifon Huynh said of the Nov. 10 defeat on Lynbrook’s field. “The team played really well … we just weren’t lucky on some of those goals.”

The team won their play-in game against Westmont 4-1 on Nov. 3 and in Round 1 of CCS, beat North Salinas on Nov. 8 with a score of 2-0.

Huynh said though she had high expectations for the team, hoping to “make it to finals,” the tough loss was not solely negative.

“One positive thing that came out of it was that the team started believing in their ability to win and their skill set, and it showed today because we dominated by moving the ball and possessing the ball probably 80 percent of the time,” Huynh said.

Senior captain Megan Doles said the team should be proud of their performance.

“After games like that it’s really easy for us to concentrate on all the bad things and everything we could have done better, but I don’t want anybody to feel they played poorly,” she said.

Doles said that the girls gave the game their all.

“[The team] played with so much heart, and, as a captain, that is all I care about,” Doles said. “I’m super bummed we didn’t move on, but we definitely gave Saint Francis a run for their money!”

The team finished with a league record of 7-7 and overall record of 13-7 this season — an achievement to build on, Huynh said.

“I’m excited because half the varsity is returning, and then we have some young players that are going to come up [to varsity] and … going to want to win,” Huynh said. “They’re going to lead the program.”

Huynh said she plans to keep the program the same for next year, even with the loss of the team’s 12 seniors.

“I don’t think there are going to be any changes, just hopefully [the team is] going to want it and work hard in the off-season, and then for the in-season, we’ll win games,” Huynh said.