It wasn’t but a New York minute when Los Gatos High field hockey coach Henry Reyes started looking at the video to dissect his team’s play in their 2-0 loss to visiting St. Francis on Oct. 18.
“It was a tough one, it hurts, like anything else, they all do,” Reyes said. “You play three quarters of a pretty decent game, but ultimately you have to play all 60 minutes. Sixty minutes is not what materialized.”
Despite the rare defeat, the Wildcats had reason to smile two days later when Mitty beat St. Francis to put them back into the pole position to win yet another outright Santa Clara Valley Athletic League championship.
Had St. Francis beaten Mitty, the Wildcats would’ve most likely ended up as league co-champions. Now, if they beat Los Altos on Oct. 25 and Saratoga on Oct. 27 to close out the league season, they will stand alone atop the SCVAL once again.
That’s a major accomplishment considering the SCVAL is far and away the premier field hockey league in the Central Coast Section. In fact, the SCVAL is so good that the top six teams are seeded Nos. 1-6 for the CCS playoffs.
“Ninety-eight percent of the CCS champions are from this conference,” Reyes said.
The Lancers’ victory over the Wildcats meant the teams split their regular-season series, with Los Gatos beating St. Francis in the first contest in overtime. Of course, the teams could very well meet again in the CCS semifinals or finals.
“I think having coached in this league long enough, we’re going to see each other again,” said Reyes, who is in his 32nd season as the Los Gatos coach. “We’re going to see a Mitty again, we’re going to see a St. Francis again. And we just have to be more prepared the next time. That’s all we can do.”
Wildcats goalie Keira Lin made several nice stops against the Lancers, including a kick save from close range with 7 minutes, 55 seconds left in the third quarter that kept the game scoreless. Los Gatos controlled the third quarter and the first couple of minutes of the fourth before St. Francis put the pressure on to close things out.
The Lancers scored both of their goals in a two-and-a-half-minute stretch midway through the final quarter.
“One of the captains who controls the midfield was serving a five minute penalty, so that didn’t help,” Reyes said. “But that happened moments before the other captain who controls the front line came out with an injury, so we had a little bit of no one controlling the steering wheel in that four, five minutes where the two scores came. That hurt us.”
Jiwoo Hong, Sam Elliott and Abby Lo have been solid if not spectacular throughout the season. Elliott displayed her potent hitting ability throughout, unleashing hard shots off short corner passes from teammates. She also delivered a nice pass to Aanya Gupta on a play that nearly scored early in the fourth quarter.
“Sam played well, Jiwoo played well, Abby Lo played her heart out,” Reyes said. “In general, the defense played really well. They played three quarters and then some good defense. But once again, teachable moments, things to learn, they’re only kids.”
Hong was shaken up after awkwardly colliding with a St. Francis player in the final period. She had to exit the game but did return a few minutes later. Reyes commended Hong’s toughness and determination afterward.
Reyes also pointed to the play of junior Ellie White, who made several nice defensive plays. In addition to those already mentioned, Los Gatos also has a core nucleus of Macy Dennon, Caitlin Okonkwo, Greta Tolich, Teagan Fogerty, Mackenzie Powell and Hailey Stone.
The Wildcats were at their vintage best in the third, connecting on passes, making strong runs all over the field and unleashing potent shots on goal.
“The kids calmed down just a little bit (at halftime) and played a more possession game, more white to white (lines), more teammate to teammate as opposed to throwing the ball randomly in areas and hoping we’d get to it,” Reyes said.
On the rare occasion Los Gatos faces defeat, Reyes uses those moments as valuable learning lessons for the team to continually improve. That’s why it’s been the premier program in the CCS for the last couple of decades.
Sports editor Emanuel Lee can be reached at [email protected]
