Trailing 3-0 in the last minute of the girls field hockey CIF quarterfinals game, Westview field hockey stood by San Dieguito Academy’s goal, passing the ball around the top of the circle. Coach Dana Hemingway had put all of the seniors onto the field in the last six minutes of the game to play together one last time. Each senior around the circle got a touch on the ball before Maile Korporaal (12) passed it to Mia Jarvis (12) who shot and scored the final goal of the season, Nov 8, to make the score 1-3.
Six minutes prior, coach Dana Hemingway called a time-out, putting all of the seniors onto the field to play their last game together. Kadence Ly (12) said that there was a lot of emotion after this final play.
“We were jumping up and down, hugging each other and tearing up because it was meaningful and we all got a touch on [the ball],” Ly said. “It was our last game and we played so hard the entire game, and at the last minute, we all scored together. We were all super emotional over it, and even though we lost, I feel like it was a really good and competitive game to end off our season with.”
Quarterfinals are the furthest that girls field hockey has advanced in CIFs during Hemingway’s time coaching. This year the team began preseason earlier and added an extra weekly practice to their schedule, which La feels contributed to the improved skill level this season.
“During the summer practices, after the first day, the coaches looked at each other and were like, ‘wow, this team is going to be so good,’” Ly said.
The previous time the team played SDA, Oct 24, they lost 6-1. To prepare for this game, the team practiced different strategies to adjust to SDA’s unique style. The team focused on double-teaming, where two girls defend the same player at once to prevent the play from progressing. Korporaal said that improving defensively helped to combat SDA’s quick playing style.
“During this game, we were better about getting back to re-defend because the last game we played with [SDA], they got a lot of breakaways and were able to run down the field,” Korporaal said. “But, we worked on double-teaming, making sure to get back and cover anybody if they needed it.”
Ly said the team also adjusted offensively, passing the ball more frequently to each other.
“Good teams like [SDA] do less dribbling than passing,” she said. “You have to adapt to that and also do a bunch of passing because if you dribble, they might steal the ball from you. We made really good passes and tried to pass it off before they stole our ball.”
Although Jarvis, Ly and Korporaal all said that the team has improved from the previous times they played SDA, Ly said that the team’s difficulty getting into scoring position around the goal limited the number of goals.
“It was a really competitive game, meaning we would just go back and forth down the field,” Ly said. “For us, it was a little bit harder to get into scoring position. We would make good passes up the field and then get it near the goal, but we wouldn’t be able to connect near the goal. That’s why we couldn’t get as many shots on goal.”
But nevertheless, the team found a win in their positive team dynamic. Jarvis said that because the team was so close, it fostered a more unified front on the field.
“Our team is super close this year,” Jarvis said. “There are not really any cliques, and we’ve all just gotten so close with each other. That relationship off the field translated while we were playing the game, so we were able to play a lot more cohesively as a team.”
