Tuesday evening, December 12th, the Benicia High Panthers met the Dons on our home pitch for what would turn out to be a hard fought close match…
The Dons opened up with strong midfield play by Tatum Keely, Reese Tierney, Taylor Mikalis, & Livi Foster working the ball towards the goal. Leila Hamidi, Demi Woods, & Keely with spot on defense with more strategic midfield play by Tierney & Tori Hiatt, leading to Ella Thomason’s first shot on goal. Keely and Avery DeMent advanced with more tenacious ball play, passing to Thomason who assisted Lucca DeBiasse with Aca’s first goal of the night.
After a save by keeper Sara Tarnai, Aca regained possession thanks to more excellent defense by Hiatt, Keely, and Demi Woods. Mikalis drove the ball to DeBiasse who had a nice shot on goal. Benicia took a free kick which was easily defended by Woods with an ultimate save by keeper Tarnai. DeBiasse kept up her offensive pressure, passing to Tierney, who assisted Foster with a shot on goal. Woods and DeMent continued to defend Dons possession, and Thomason assisted Foster with another shot on goal. Acalanes defended another free kick thanks to DeMent and Tierney, and Tarnai had several more saves.
Mikalis and Stella Hamilton kept up the offensive pressure, Megan Yee assisted Mikalis with a shot on goal, followed by another attempt by DeBiasse. More aggressive midfield play by Keely, Tierney, Hiatt, and Avery Ives pushed the ball downfield, with Mikalis and Yee keeping up the offensive pressure. Hiatt took a beautiful shot on goal from midfield to close the first half.
The Panthers came back hungry, starting the second half with a strong shot on goal into the crossbar, miraculously defended by keeper Tarnai! Benicia continued to test the Dons’ defense, led by Hiatt, Woods, and Hamidi. The Panthers had more opportunities to score, with a corner and another free kick, but Tarnai, with help from Keely and Tierney, kept the Panthers at bay.
More offensive effort from Thomason crossing to Mikalis led to a corner kick but no score. The Dons would have another free kick and corner, but no goal. Keely and Woods helped the Dons retain possession, Woods driving downfield to DeBiasse, passing to Yee who fed Foster another shot on goal. The Panthers again turned it around and had back to back shots on goal handily saved by Tarnai. On offense Yee sent another ball to Hamilton for another Acalanes attempt on goal. Another foul called on the Dons gave Benicia a free kick, defended by Foster whose shin sent the ball all the way past midfield. Hiatt finished the game with a defensive header. In the end the Dons held the Panthers, defeating Benicia 1 – 0.
Thursday, 12/14, the Dons will travel to Berean Christian High School to take on the Berean Eagles at 3:15pm.