Tuesday evening, the Varsity Women Dons traveled to Orinda to meet Miramonte on their home pitch. After an exciting 1-0 victory by our JV team, our girls were pumped to take on the Mats!
The Dons came out fighting against a very skilled Miramonte team who knew how to communicate and move the ball downfield. Our defense deftly responded to early presses by the Mats offense, with Edie Berzansky & Tori Hiatt intercepting passes and breaking up plays on goal. Megan Yee and Lucca DeBiasse hit the ground running with tenacious midfield play getting the ball up to the Mats side of the pitch. More offensive press and shots on goal by the Mats with Melisa Adatepe having a great save only to be followed by a goal by the Mats at the 34 minute mark. The Dons kept their heads up, led once again by the unstoppable force of Yee possessing and repossessing the ball and driving it downfield. Yee with solid assistance by Reese Tierney in the midfield brought the ball up resulting in a great drive by Alex Salazar, crossing to Tatum Keely who had a nice shot on the goal. Ella Thomason pressed the Mats at midfield and drove the ball downfield, even megging a Mat! More midfield pressure from Leila Hamidi & Tierney, then DiBiasse passed to Thomason for another Don attempt on goal. Shannon Crane came in & wasted no time working the Mats at the midfield, Salazar sent a clean cross to DeBiasse who made another shot on goal for the Dons. More offensive efforts by Salazar, Crane, Hiatt, & Yee before Salazar made a shot on goal that bounced off a defender. She got her own rebound, and then scored the Dons’ first goal of the night! Unfortunately, the Mats minutes later turned the tables with a corner kick and a header to bring the score to 2-1 to close the first half.
The Dons opened the second half with Salazar driving the ball down the sideline, great runs and pressure by Nicole Nguyen, Tierney & DeBiasse holding the midfield, and the reliable defense of Keely, Berzansky, & Hiatt. Tierney took a beautiful shot on goal from the midfield just wide, hitting the goal post. Reese made another attempt just over the crossbar. More drives downfield by Salazar and Nguyen, with a nice shot by Yee. Thomason had a nice steal in the midfield allowing Salazar another shot on goal, followed soon after by DeBiasse’s slider into the goal just saved by the Mats’ keeper. Hiatt and Keely kept up the defensive pressure, and Sisi Houston took on the Mats at the midfield. Thomason had another great drive downfield followed by another shot on goal by Nguyen. Berzansky took a turn on offense, launching a beautiful ball towards goal from the midfield. Nguyen & Keely moved the ball downfield to Stella Hamilton who sent a beautiful cross but sadly no score. Adatepe had several more saves as the minutes ticked down. It would be Salazar sending the ball downfield to Nguyen with a pass back to Salazar who scored the tying goal for the Dons with just 4 minutes left in the game! The Dons held the defensive line to close the match at a tie, 2 – 2.
Next up for the Dons is a road game at Ygnacio Valley on Thursday. You can catch the Dons at home on Saturday at 7pm against visiting Redwood. Go Dons!