The Acalanes Lady Dons played their hearts out tonight at the Soda Center. The stands were packed and the energy was electric. The whistle blew and both teams came out strong. The Mats won the first sprint but the Dons stole the ball and almost sunk one into the twine. The Mats were able to capitalize on the next play and get themselves on the scoreboard. On the next play, sophomore Finley Graff sent one to the back of the net to tie up the game, 1-1. Miramonte came back and scored their second of the game and regained the lead. However, Junior Ella Del Rosario didn’t let that lead stay for long as she scored her first goal. Sophomore goalie, Adelyn Horciza was a blocking machine and didn’t let the Mats score for the rest of the quarter. Finley Graff scored her second of the game to give Acalanes a 3-2 lead as the quarter came to a close.
Quarter two started off with Ella Del Rosario winning the sprint and giving the first possession to Acalanes. Miramonte wasn’t giving up but Adelyn Horciza continued to make stellar saves. Ella Del Rosario scored her second of the game giving the Dons a 4-2 lead as the quarter was winding down. Just as the quarter was ending, Miramonte snuck one in the cage for a score of 4-3.
The Mats came out of the half feeling strong and scored in the first few minutes of the quarter to tie up the game. The Lady Dons continued fighting but had trouble finding the cage and Miramonte scored another goal to take the lead 5-4. Ella Del Rosario earned her hat trick and tied up the game once again as the quarter came to an end.
The final quarter started with freshman Malin Stone winning the sprint as the Acalanes crowd went wild! The Mats scored the first goal of the quarter giving them a 6-5 lead, but the Dons still had time. Adelyn continued to make great saves and Acalanes had some great shots but weren’t able to get the final goals needed to take the win. The Lady Dons were magnificent tonight! It wasn’t the outcome they had hoped for, but they should hold their heads high because they played their hearts out and fought until the very last second of the game! Great job Acalanes!