The Dons went into their last regular season game on Friday night at home knowing they had a tough opponent in Miramonte. Despite a strong desire to take home the win, Miramonte came out stronger from the start and the Dons weren’t able to stop that momentum throughout the game. 

The first quarter came and went with no goals for the Dons and the Mats up 3-0. In the second quarter, the Dons got on the scoreboard thanks to 3 penalty shots, however Miramonte wasn’t slowing down, scoring 6 goals of their own and sending the Dons into halftime down 9-3. 

Inspired by a passionate half time talk from senior Jenna Steele, the Dons came into the 3rd quarter with energy and determination. Bringing this energy to the field, Acalanes put the pressure on the Mats, forcing a few key turnovers on the re-defend. The Dons rallied and scored 4 goals in quick succession causing the Mats to call timeout and closing the gap on the Miramonte lead. Unfortunately, the Mats settled down and managed to score a few more to end the half still with a sizable 13-7 lead. 

The 4th quarter continued to see a few more goals by the Mats and despite a burst of energy and fight for the Dons that resulted in two goals in the last few minutes of the game, it was simply not enough on this night. The Mats took home the win, 15-9. 

Two seemed to be the number of the night with Ella Thomason, Grace Colaco, Cat Liu and Gracie Imrie each scoring two goals a piece. Reese Imrie scored one goal on the night and Luca DeBiasse and Thomason had one assist each. Draw controls were tough to come by in this game, but G. Imrie secured 4, while DeBiasse, Thomason and Colaco each had 2. Anchoring our defense as always, Addie Martin had 8 saves against a tough Miramonte attack. The Dons will take the weekend to rest and reset and come back stronger, ready to take on their next opponent in the first round of the NCS playoffs on Tuesday! Go Dons!