The Lady Dons headed to Concord to take on the Carondelet Cougars in the CIF Quarterfinals. It has certainly been a journey with Carondelet this season. The Dons season started with a scrimmage against the Cougars back in August. Acalanes was a new team, full of jitters, and no score was recorded. When the teams met for their official game in mid-September, they fought for every goal and Acalanes walked away with a 9-8 win. When the news broke that the teams would meet again in the quarterfinals, everyone knew it would be a good game.
The Cougars ate their Wheaties this morning! They came out strong, won the sprint, and scored in the first play of the game. This took the Lady Dons by surprise as they usually like to get the first goal on the board. However, they regrouped, and had some good drives and steals, but the Cougars were able to score another few goals before sophomore Finley Graff sunk one in the back of the net and got the Dons on the scoreboard 1-4
The Dons found their groove in the second quarter with stronger defense. Finley Graff scored on a strong cross-cage shot and freshman Lily Briones followed it up with a goal of her own. Finley Graff earned a hat trick with a strong shot from set bringing the score to 4-7 at the half. The Dons were making a comeback and it looked to be anyone’s game.
The third quarter was a battle! The intensity rose as the whistle blew. The defense was strong on both sides allowing each team to only score once. Acalanes’ goal came from a beautiful outside shot from junior Ella Del Rosario. The quarter ended with a score of 5-8.
The final quarter looked good for the Dons. Freshman Malin Stone won the sprint giving first possession to Acalanes. The Dons made some great attempts, but couldn’t find the back of the cage until the end of the quarter when junior Siena La Rotonda snuck one in right under the Carondelet goalie’s arm. It was a great goal in the last minute of the game, but unfortunately, the Cougars outplayed the Dons and walked away with an 11-6 victory.
The 2024 season was a year of building. The team consisted of four returning varsity players and ten newbies. The girls started their season playing against an Olympian, then endured a freezing cold weekend retreat in Tahoe. The team gelled at the Acalanes Invitational as they went 3-1 and placed 5th. Their strength continued to build a few weeks later when they placed first at the Amanda MacDonald Invitational and still made it to HOCO! The Lady Dons traveled to San Francisco, hosted countless Saturday games, and placed 6th in the NorCal Tournament in late October. Acalanes placed 4th in the NCS division and 7th in CIF. This dedicated group of girls practiced 8x a week for three and a half months long! In addition, they lifted weights, laughed, danced, sang, made TikTok videos, and learned a lot. Thank you to the amazing Acalanes coaching staff for their dedication and leadership. Watching this team come together and give it their all was magnificent!