The tone was set from the jump as Acalanes grabbed control of the game and never let go. The first shot of many came at the seventh minute, was pushed out by the Dougherty Valley goalie, and followed up by an open goal shot just over the cross bar. Great play by our tenacious Dons.

The Dons continued to work the ball around like a team who’d played together for years – a beautiful sequence at 12 minutes as Ruby Coy (#9) had a sparkling pass to Avery Titus (#3) for the score.

Three minutes later and Lucy Hamilton’s (#8) cross found Averly Ammerman (#19) who hit the back of the net. At this point all the players have contributed to keep the ball on the Dons’ side for ~90% of the half.

*Shout out to all the fans who braved the arctic blast to cheer on this awesome team!

The second half brought more of the same: We had a bit of déjà vu as the Ruby to Avery connection fired twice more for goals three and four.

Casey Lerch (#11) and June Natal (#7) were the spiders in the web out in midfield as they dished crisp pass after no-look delivery to their teammates over and over.  

When they did need to engage, our defense – Courtney Hamill (#10), Alexa Wall (#22), Ashby Raher (#15), Olivia Kemp (#5) – was calm, cool, and collected all game long.

Allie Schofield (#12) had a big impact on the field and played aggressive soccer all over the place. Farren Staino (#16) was solid at left and right fullback and had effective throw-ins.

Hannah Hoover (#2) came in the game like always – as if she has an outboard motor – and had an immediate gorgeous shot on goal!

Dons’ keeper Brooke Lewis (#0) kept the team’s spirits up and had a few great touches to maintain the tempo. And it must be said, the DV goalie earned her keep all. game. long. Bravo.

Next up, at home v Maria Carrillo at 5p on Friday. Come cheer on these dynamic and oh-so-fun-to-watch athletes!

Let’s GO Dons!