Henry Reyes took over the Los Gatos High field hockey program in 1990. Thirty-one years later, he’s still stalking the sidelines, his raspy voice as distinguishable as ever. The 16-time Central Coast Section champion Wildcats are geared up for another run at title glory.
Nothing lasts forever, but in the world of high school sports, Los Gatos’ field hockey run equates to everlasting success.
In beating Saratoga 9-0 on Sept. 16, the Wildcats made a solid team look downright mediocre. That’s hard to do, but not when you’re Los Gatos, which possesses depth at every position. Natasha Evenden had a game-high four goals, Carys Grespan had two, and Jiwoo Hong, Rosalie Brockmann and Rachel Henricksen had one score each.
Evenden has one of the most potent shots in the section, and even her misses create opportunities for scores because the opposing goalie can’t control the rebound, leaving ample opportunities for Los Gatos players to score from close range.
“Natasha was on fire,” Reyes said. “She is a second-year captain and even last year as a junior showed the aptitude to lead and perform. She’s doing that again and also distributing the ball well. We had a number of scorers today and a lot of people contributing to what was an effective team effort today.”
“We focus a lot on holding control of the ball and make sure we can dictate what’s happening in the flow of play”
—Henry Reyes, coach
Los Gatos dominated the possession to the point that Saratoga was limited to one shot on goal. Because of that, Wildcats goalie Katya Vrijen was the loneliest player on the field, yet she thrives in competitive contests.
“She’s an amazing goalie and I can’t say enough about her,” Reyes said. “Sometimes during a game we don’t get a chance to see everything she does, but she trains against one of the best offensive teams in the section—if not the state—everyday, so she’s ready for the task.”
Reyes credited defender Madi McDonough for controlling the back and helping the team transition from defense to offense.
“She spearheaded the defense which was very stingy,” Reyes said. “She commanded the girls in the back and her skill and distribution to the attack was instrumental in the second half. That was something we had to have happen, is the defense to touch the ball more, transition and present the ball to the attack a little more with control, and we got that.”
Los Gatos opened the season with a 8-0 win over Willow Glen, another strong team. The fact that the Wildcats have pummeled two solid teams bode well as they focus on the process.
“If each player achieves the small objectives and if we have a collectively large number of people achieving those things, then there is a high probability that the end objective to eventually put some scores on the board could happen,” Reyes said.
Los Gatos works a lot on its stickhandling skills, which usually translates to dominating the time of possession.
“We focus a lot on holding control of the ball and making sure we hold it to where we can dictate what’s happening in the flow of play,” Reyes said.
