It was a lovely break from the cold and fog in beautiful Windsor on Saturday afternoon, where our devoted fans were voluntold to pay $10 to watch our kids play theirs because ‘refs are expensive.’ Well, LPIE has taught us to value public education, so we all ponied up and made our way to the sunny side of the stadium for what turned out to be a delightful game. Coached in style by our fearless program leader, Coach Alex (with Coach Jose on the phone), the team came together without their starting keeper – Brooke Lewis (#0) was assisting varsity – and against a rough and ready opponent with a strong home crowd at their backs.

With the ultimate utility player, Hannah Hoover (#2) in goal, the Dons got started with lots of back and forth in the first several minutes trying to get the rhythm of their opponents. Windsor had a few early shots on goal, which Hannah and our stellar defense handled nicely, but that’s about all that can be said that this point… The double-edged sword of sitting facing the sun in 54-degree weather is that you finally begin to thaw from the Lafayette deep freeze AND you’re watching a team of faceless, numberless silhouettes.

But things came into sharp relief as Averly Ammerman (#19) hit an unbelievable rocket from outside the box into the back of the net! 1-0 Dons. That was the shot in the arm these Dons needed. An amazing boot from Casey Lerch (#11) ricocheted off a Windsor player to earn the corner. With perfect execution Avery Titus (#3) sent the ball past Liv Kemp (#5) who deliberately avoided it on the way to June Natal (#7) who put it in the goal. Brilliant! 2-0 Dons on a flawless play!

Windsor followed with a free kick on a questionable foul (maybe we should have paid more?), but it was a really nice goal nevertheless. 2-1.

The rest of the half saw some great runs from Lucy Hamilton (#8) and Allie Schofield (#12); key defensive plays by Liv, Alexa Wall (#22), and Courtney Hamill (#10); smart line work from Farren Staino (#16) and Audrey Tseng (#4); and a midfield symphony from Tatum Walsh (#13), Allie, June, and Casey.

Which brings us to half.

The Dons had control early and often for the second half. Our midfielders delivered some beautiful pass sequences and there were plenty of shots on goal, corners, and free kicks for both sides… but the score stayed the same as the sun set and the clock ran down and our winning Dons began the long journey home to a week of finals ahead.

Here’s to this group of fun, focused, fiery footballers! S U P E R fabulous to watch.

That’s it for the ’25 portion of our season. Join us in ’26 on Tuesday, January 6th at home v Cal High at 5p.

Let’s GO Dons!