Thunk!  The spectators shout. Less than 60 seconds into the game, sophomore Ali Hines has scored the first goal against Oakville.

“That’s the way!” cheers parent Mike McCray as he watches. “Go Lions!”

While the game may have been fun and enjoyable to watch,  so was listening to the parents cheer on the varsity field hockey team.  A round of encouragements and exclamations followed every swing of the stick, every pass and block, every trick and goal performed by the girls of U. City: their very own cheerleading team, minus the pom-poms.

Abby Shea and team captain Kat Simpson, returning from the DL after recovering from mononucleosis, served to create a burgeoning varsity squad that looked fierce and ready for action.

The first half of the game was relatively quiet.  Ali Hines and Mandy York each scored a goal, with Oakville’s impressive goalie repulsing all of the other attempts made by U. City. The half-time buzzer went off, and the girls immediately hurried over to their coach, Marissa Davenport-Sheppard, to strategize.

The second half started off 2-0 U. City with the ball sent back to Kat Simpson, who took it forward all the way to Oakville’s goal and nearly scored. A cloud of dust was kicked up, and soon there was a bristling sphere of sticks and legs surrounding the goal.

“Always with the dust,” sighs McCray.  “Come on, girls; get a stick on the ball!”

Five times they drove toward their opponents’ goal, each attempt by U. City being repelled by Oakville until finally team captain Anna Carlsson slipped the ball through for the third goal of the day.

After this, a second wind came to the girls, and before the game was over, Mandy York had scored twice more and Abby Shea once for a final score of 6-0 Lion(esse)s. Also standing out during the game was Merinda Morley, whose fancy stick work confounded the players from Oakville.

However, just because the game was over didn’t mean the work stopped.  After running a victory lap the girls got together to talk about improvements.

“The total stick obstructions was 17 for them and 18 for us,” said Davenport-Sheppard. “We’ve gotta do something about that. It’s too many.”  Various other tactics and plays were discussed, with each of the girls giving input.

“This game makes us 6 and 0 against public schools,” said the coach. “We’re really working to beat the private schools… It was nice to have the extra bodies on the field with Kat and Abby… We’ve just got to work more to get ready for the game next week against Lafayette, a major competitor for us.”

The field hockey team finished the season with a record of 14-10-1.