Varsity girls lacrosse yields to Soquel 7-8 on senior night
Ligimol Antony, Angelina’s mom, appreciated the younger players’ effort in honoring every senior.
“It was such a special moment for the girls and their parents,” Ligimol said. “Each of the senior students got a tiara and posters with cute puns. During the game, there was so much support from the team and the crowd up on the bleachers. Some people even brought balloons for their friends — it was really great to see the school community come together.”
After the initial draw, midfielder Sofe Jalil (10) drove the ball up to the field, connecting with attacker Mia Ji (9) to push it forward. Once Soquel regained the ball, defender Eva followed the attackers closely, causing them to miss their shots. Following an inbounding play, Yena received a corner pass from Audrey and fired the ball in for a goal at 1-0.
Harker pursued Soquel attackers, shutting down their passing lanes, while goalie Samantha Teachworth (10) made a key save on a fast break halfway into the first quarter. Audrey then scooped a ground ball with five Soquel defenders closing in, found an opening route towards the goal and fired a close-range shot to extend the lead 2-0. Despite the other team scoring, Sofia and attacker Saanica Saancheti (9) helped maintain the offensive momentum, carrying the ball down the field.
To open the second quarter, the Knights took advantage of the Eagles’ weak central defense and inaccurate passes to tie the game 2-2. Audrey chased after a rogue ball that bounced off of a Soquel defender and quickly pivoted to the goal to bring Harker up 3-2 with less than three minutes left in the quarter. However, the Knights quickly responded with steady passing around the crease before attacking with a shot from 7 meters, bringing the game to a 3-3 tie by halftime.
“This game was interesting because it was really close,” midfielder Tvisha Ganesh (11) said. “Throughout the season, we’ve had either really big wins or big losses, but this one stayed tight the whole time. It didn’t come out in our favor, but we all had a lot of fun playing against a team that was at a similar level, and it felt meaningful to play together one final time. I’m really proud of how we’ve gone from barely having a team to being able to compete like this.”
In the third quarter, Harker and Soquel engaged in a back-and-forth battle, each team trading possessions every forty seconds. A Knights attacker outran the Eagles’ defense off of a corner inbounding play, increasing the score 3-4. Trailing in the third, Yena cradled the ball tightly and dodged through the Soquel defense to tie the game 4-4. The Knights answered quickly with a cross-body goal, but Yena responded moments later, cutting straight to the crease to equalize at 5-5.
The Knights took advantage of the Eagles’ poor central defense, firing back with two consecutive goals and putting the Eagles at a 5-7 deficit later in the quarter. Yena continued her offensive effort into the last quarter of the game, weaving around defenders to find the net once more to bring the score to 6-7.
With 1:16 left in the fourth quarter, Audrey attacked straight to goal, dodged two Soquel defenders and tied the game 7-7. In the final 40 seconds of the match, Soquel broke through the defense to score a goal from the side, putting them up 7-8. In the last play of the game, attacker Masha Sokolova (9) won the draw and drove straight to the goal, attempting a cross-goal shot but was blocked, concluding the game 7-8.
“I’m really proud that the team stuck with it,” Yena said. “Even though most of them are beginners to this game, they didn’t take that as something to be intimidated by and really put their all into every practice and every game. When Masha was driving down to goal, the stands were so loud, and I thought, ‘Wow, lacrosse is actually bringing people together.’ It’s so heartening to see all these people who care about lacrosse.”
After the game, friends and family took photos on the field in honor of the seniors’ last lacrosse game of their careers. Teammates presented the seniors with tiaras before indulging in a post-game meal.
“It’s surreal to be on the receiving end of the celebration,” Yena said. “It’s a cool way to honor people who decided to pour their last year of high school into a sport that takes so much commitment. It’s just really special to celebrate the work and the opportunity cost that we put into investing part of our last year into a sport.”
The team finished their season with a 4-3 record.
