The Dons celebrated Senior Night by shutting down Northgate in a 4-0 heart-pounder on Tuesday, 2/6! The game kicked off with all six of our seniors on the field. The first 10 minutes of the game were beautifully played, with the Dons moving the ball up the field with crisp passes and impressive formation. There was a nice attack by senior Shannon Crane to senior Zoya Acuna, but it was broken up by the Northgate defense. Great give-and-gos were executed all the way up from defender Tori Hiatt  to the Northgate goal box. A nice Northgate attack was broken up with a great save by goalie Melisa Adatepe. Some additional back-and-forth action followed, with another shot saved by Adatepe. There was a strong attack by Stella Hamilton, Taylor Mikalis, and senior Ella Thomason, and a shot by Lucca DeBiasse that went wide left.

Things really started to heat up 15 minutes in with a sequence started by Hiatt bringing the ball up to Livi Foster, who assisted Thomason for a lofting shot over the goalie’s head! The score was 1-0 in favor of the Dons. Alex Salazar passed to Nicole Nguyen, who then set up Thomason for another shot, which was stopped by the Northgate goalie. There was a nice cross from Nguyen to Sisi Houston to Reese Tierney for a goal which was called back for an offside call. The Dons ended the half up 1-0.

The second half kicked off with a long cross by Houston to DeBiasse, which was broken up by the Northgate goalie. A goal kick by Northgate was broken up by Houston who put the ball back into the box; a Northgate defender played the ball with a big touch that Thomason took advantage of, rocketing the ball into the back of the net for her second goal of the night. The Dons were up 2-0. They didn’t let the score slow them down. They continued with a through ball by Salazar, which the Northgate goalie attempted to save. However, the goalie save was broken up by a sliding DeBiasse who had an impressively athletic assist to Nguyen for another goal. The Dons were now up 3-0. The Dons’ defense broke up an attack by Northgate with a save by Melisa and a clearance by the defenders. There was a nice cross from Nguyen to Salazar for a shot that just went wide left. A long shot by Tierney also went wide left. There was a handball in the box, resulting in a penalty shot for the Dons. Thomason took the shot, but the Northgate goalie jumped off her line early and made the save, but also unfortunately injured herself in the process. A long ball from Tierney to Hamilton was broken up by the Northgate goalie. Hamilton stole the ball from a Northgate defender for a shot that was just within reach of the Northgate goalie for a save. A shot by Northgate was easily handled by Adatepe.

The Dons went on the attack again with Salazar, Tierney, Hamilton, Mikalis, and Tatum Keely taking a few more shots that all went just wide. Senior Megan Yee kicked a long shot over the goalie’s head and sank it into the far corner! The score was now 4-0 in favor of the Dons which ended up being the final score against a great Broncos team. What a Senior Night! Go Dons!