The first warm weather game of the season was the perfect evening for the Girls Varsity Lacrosse Senior Night. The seniors were celebrated throughout the day and showered with love and support on their field under the giant Acalanes A. The senior Dons felt the love and used their experience and talent to lead the team to an easy 18-8 victory over Berkeley High.
All 11 seniors started the game – Addie Martin in goal, Grace Imrie and Avery Ives in the midfield, Elsa Braunstein, Jasmine Frost, Jaqueline Kuhner and Kelly Todhunter in at defense, and Tea Sloane Smith, Jenna Steele, Ella Thomason and Maia Upp at attack. From the first whistle, this skilled group took the lead and never looked back. Thomason set the tone for the game and got things started for the Dons with the first 2 goals of the evening. Despite being a defender, Ives jumped in at midfield helping to move the ball. Grace Colaco continued the scoring with a hard shot that found the back of the net, followed shortly thereafter by Sloane Smith with a great drive to goal for the point. On a roll, G. Imrie took the ball coast to coast for her first goal of the night. The Yellowjackets fought back against the early lead by the Dons, making many attempts to score only to be blocked repeatedly by stellar defense from Braunstein, Frost, Kuhner and Todhunter as well as star goalie, Martin. The first quarter ended with the Dons in the lead 5-1.
The Seniors picked up right where they left off to start the second quarter. G.Imrie quickly controlled the draw (one of her 9 draw controls for the night!). In the next play, Steele made a smart pass to G. Imrie, who then finished it off with another goal. As we’ve seen many times this year, when G. Imrie gains momemtum, she is hard to stop and tonight was no exception. Back to the draw circle, G. Imrie scooped up a tricky ground ball, ran to the goal and scored once again. The Yellowjackets were playing catch up and every time they seemed to get possession, they were met with a fierce defense on both sides of the field. Todhunter showed grit, playing through injury, and repeatedly blocking the Yellowjacket’s attempts to settle their offense. Likewise, Kuhner and Frost never let up their defense throughout the night. Senior teamwork was in action when Thomason caused a turnover that resulted in a penalty shot which she quickly passed to Sloane Smith for the goal, her second for the night. The quarter continued with more scoring from Junior Lucca DeBiasse on a penalty shot followed by Steele with her first goal of the night off an assist by Junior Campbell Evans. The quarter ended with G. Imrie scoring on an 8 meter shot, her fourth goal of the night. The Dons finished the half up 11-3.
Going into the 3rd quarter, some of the seniors got a little rest while many of the younger Dons got in on the fun. Jumping right in, Sophomore Reese Imrie scored off an assist by Freshman Stella Hamilton. Our defense continued to show their grit and dedication to protecting our goal as demonstrated by Braunstein who was sidelined with an injury in the third quarter as a result of her relentless efforts to defend for the Dons. One highlight of the quarter was a huge clear (across most of the field) from Martin to Freshman defender Reese Tierney, who quickly snatched the ball in the air and ran so fast to the goal to score that her defender did a full somersault trying to keep up with her! The next play was a great example of teamwork and the power of transitioning the ball quickly down field with DeBiasse passing to Freshman Catalina Liu and Liu then sending the ball to Sophomore Emily Roberts for the goal. Defender Ives got in on the action on attack with an assist to Evans for the goal to end the quarter, Dons up 15-6.
With all the seniors back in, the Dons wrapped up the game with a few more senior-scored goals in the 4th quarter. Mixing things up a bit to create a few special senior moments, Steele, Thomason and Todhunter started at midfield, Ives, Kuhner, and Frost anchored the defense and G.Imrie, Sloane Smith and Upp started in at attack. Ives seemed to enjoy the attack side of things so much in the third quarter that she was back for more and scored a goal off a well placed penalty shot. After settling the ball and waiting for the perfect opportunity, Upp took the ball around the crease to score for the Dons. Ending the game on a high note, Steele had the final goal and her second of the night. Final score 18-8 Dons. In the end, 12 of the 18 goals were scored by seniors and there were 12 different goal scorers overall. The only stat to top that is Martin’s whopping 13 saves in goal! The girls varsity seniors certainly brought the energy tonight and a fun evening was had by all! What a way to celebrate their high school lacrosse careers!
Next up for the Dons is an away game at Campo Friday at 7pm. Let’s go Dons!
