On a chilly, yet fortunately dry evening on Tuesday, the Varsity Girls Lacrosse team travelled to Concord to take on the Clayton Valley Charter Ugly Eagles. By the way, has anyone wondered why they are called the Ugly Eagles? Apparently it is a nickname dating back to the late 1960s/early 1970s when a coach gave the name to football players with, at the time, inappropriately long hair.
This game was never in doubt from the opening draw, as the Dons cruised to a 17-2 victory. Fortunately for the fans getting cold in the stands, the running clock began before halftime. Despite the lopsided score, there were quite a few entertaining moments. Even before the game started, the referees asked the DJ in the announcer booth to turn down the music, which over the course of the game featured such classics as Crank That (Soulja Boy), You Shook Me All Night Long, Bust A Move, Jump Around, La Bamba, and the Jaws theme song to name a few. The announcer also had great nicknames for some of the players, such as queen stopper goalie, which fit well as the Ugly Eagles goalie did a great job of not only saving shots, but also running all over the field to find open teammates. The best fan moment came at the end of the game, where an Ugly Eagles fan yelled “run” to one of their players with the ball with the team down 17-1 who managed to score just before time expired.
On offense, Emily Roberts likely set an Acalanes record by scoring a hat trick in the first 4 minutes and 26 seconds of the game, en-route to a double hat trick performance. She would have poured in additional goals if the coaches hadn’t pulled the starters early and moved girls between positions. In addition to Emily’s 6 goals, Ximena Espinosa had 3 goals, Charlotte Gellman and Christina Hageboeck each had 2 goals each, Kate Beaver and Reese Imrie each had a goal, and defenders turned midfielders/attack Reese Tierney and Kate Uffelman scored the remaining goals, much to the delight of their teammates. Goalie Sara Hession also got time in the field, with her teammates cheering her on every step of the way.
The girls dished out 12 assists in the game, with Charlotte leading the way with three, Svea Staino with two, and Maya Stafford, Cate Mercier, Kate, Emily, Ximena, and Ella Culbertson with one each. Maya led the team with five draw controls, Reese Imrie had four, Ella had two, and Maddie Obertello, Svea, and Kate all had one each. Emily led the team with three loose balls controlled, while Grace Colaco and Reese Tierney had two each, and Maya, Edie Berzansky, Charlotte, Svea, Ximena, and Reese Westphal all had one each.
The Defense wasn’t really tested in this game, but was nice to see a variety of girls playing defense including a JV call-up goalie. The Dons should face a much tougher test on Friday as they have a rematch against College Park on the road following their narrow 14-13 victory at home last month. Go Dons!
The team will take on College Park on Friday, April 17 at 7pm on the road
