Acalanes vs. Leland Chargers

The Chargers got off to a speedy start and scored the first two goals of the game last Saturday morning. The Dons regrouped and sophomore Anika Rehn swam down the pool and sent one to the back of the cage to get Acalanes on the board! Senior Finley Graff followed Anika’s lead and sent a great backhand goal to tie up the game and then sophomore Elinor Chen got the ball and scored to give the Dons their first lead of the game, 3-2. Leland responded with another goal but the Dons stayed strong and junior Lily Briones sent a sweet pass to center Finley Graff who redirected the ball into the cage to end the quarter with a 4-3 lead. 

Quarter two started with Acalanes winning the sprint, but Leland regained possession and the Chargers were able to score and tie up the game once again. The rest of the quarter progressed with several exclusions and lots of great attempts by the Dons. The Chargers found the back of the cage once again to regain the lead by the end of the quarter. The Dons had a good half time chat and were ready to go when the whistle blew. Acalanes won the sprint but lost possession and Leland charged ahead with two more goals. Malin Stone responded with a goal of her own to bring the game within one, but Leland founght hard and added one more tally to their score. As the clock was ticking down, Lily Briones got a fast break and executed a beautiful screwshot to keep the game within two. 

Quarter 4 started off with a great sprint by Anika Rehn who sent to ball down to Malin Stone who scored to bring the game within one! Goalie Adelyn Horciza made a great block and sent the ball back down to Malin who scored another goal to tie up the game. Leland fought back and scored one more to take the lead, but Malin got right to work on the next play to tie up the game once again! The Chargers stayed true to their name and stepped up their offense to score and once again regain the lead, 9-10 with less than a minute left in the game. Acalanes called a timeout and knew the last play was make it or break it. The Dons came out and Finley Graff literally stuck the ball in the twine to tie the game for the sixth time and head to overtime!

Overtime started with Leland winning the sprint and taking the first possession. They scored first but Adelyn Horciza blocked the rest of the shots and Finley Graff scored before the 3 minutes was up to keep the game 11 a piece. The second OT period started with strong Acalanes defense! Leland got down to their cage, but were not able to convert. Malin Stone headed down the pool and scored to take a 12-11 lead. One the next play, a Charger was excluded and Malin capitalized to increase the Dons lead 13-11. When the buzzer rang, the Dons earned the W after a hard-fought battle. Well done Dons!

Acalanes vs. Monte Vista

Monte Vista started off the game with a great sprint, but Adelyn Horciza blocked their shot and Malin Stone got right to work and scored Acalanes first goal of the game. On the next possession, Finley Graff had a great steal and sent the ball to Lucy Kerr, who gave it back to Finley for goal #2. Jayna Guiro ate her Wheaties and was a stealing machine. The first ball she stole was sent up to Lily Briones who earned her first goal of the game. The second ball she stole, she took the ball right up to the cage and scored! There was some back and forth and some great attempts by at the end of the quarter, Acalanes had a 4-0 lead. 

 

Q2 started off with the Mustangs gaining control, but Adelyn Horciza was standing strong. The Dons had a series of great shots that hit the bar, but Finley Graff earned a 5m penalty shot and Malin Stone took it and found the back of the net. Monte Vista was able to sneak one in the cage by the end of the half with a score of 5-1.

Quarter 3 started off strong with Jayna Guiro winning the sprint and a pass to Lily Briones who scored. Malin Stone followed that with a great outside shot of her own to add one more for the Dons. As the quarter was coming to an end, Lily Briones scored her second of the game to give the Dons an 8-1 lead. 

The final quarter started with another speedy sprint by Jayna Guiro. Monte Vista came out strong as well and scored first. Malin Stone got the next ball and added one more for the Dons. The Mustangs continued to keep the pressure strong and scored another goal to bring the score 9-3. Lily Briones continued the Dons scoring streak with one more. With only 20 seconds left in the game, junior Kylie Kaplan set up the play and shot a ball and flew to the back of the cage for the win! The Dons beat the Monte Vista Mustangs 11-3.

What’s Next for the Dons?

Come to Miramonte High School on Wednesday, October 14th, to watch the last league game between the Acalanes Dons and the Miramonte Matadors. 

Varsity @ 6:30pm

JV @ 7:30pm