A 1-0 loss to Mitty High on Oct. 6 did little to dampen the spirits of the Los Gatos High field hockey team. After all, the Wildcats will see the Monarchs again at least one other time in the regular season and quite possibly a third time in the Central Coast Section tournament.
Los Gatos, Mitty and St. Francis are widely considered the top three teams in the section, so any time the teams play each other the result can go either way. Mitty just happened to prevail against the Wildcats in their latest matchup. Los Gatos coach Henry Reyes wasn’t too disappointed given his team had a big edge in short corners and a small advantage in time of possession.
More often than not, a team that controls those two categories will come out on top.
“We had some great opportunities to put the ball in, but it just didn’t happen,” Reyes said. “We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities and made a couple of mistakes defensively resulting in the ball heading into the cage. But we’ll see both Mitty and St. Francis at our house and we’ll proceed from there.”
Since the Wildcats have one of the most potent offenses in the state, even a powerhouse team like Mitty will pack things in on the defensive end. Reyes said the Monarchs sometimes had 10 players inside the 25-yard line whenever Los Gatos crossed midfield, making things particularly tough to score, let alone get a shot on goal.
“If you can imagine the entire team concentrated in that space, it was very tough to score,” he said. “They had a very stingy defense. We did anticipate that would happen from their previous opponent they played.”
Los Gatos rebounded nicely from the Mitty loss, defeating Los Altos 4-0 two days later. The Wildcats boast one of the largest rosters in the section. They have 33 players on the varsity team and 30 on the junior varsity squad, a testament to the popularity of the sport in Los Gatos.
Reyes said he “probably used 25 different kids” in the Mitty match, adding the defense has been strong all season.
Captain Madi McDonough, Maddie Holloway, Maia DeWinter and Rachel Henricksen form a solid defender corps along with the very last line of defense in top goalie Katya Vrijen.
“The defense has stood out quite a bit and generally done really well,” Reyes said.
Los Gatos has been sharp offensively as well, with Natasha Evenden leading the way in goals scored. Evenden unleashes shots at a prodigious rate, which puts opponents on their toes. Jiwoo Hong has also played tremendous on offense and Sam Elliott has been strong in the midfield.
Field hockey is unique from the other sports in the CCS in that Los Gatos and Los Altos—two traditional schools in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League—compete against West Catholic League schools Mitty, St. Francis, Presentation and St. Ignatius in the SCVAL De Anza Division.
The way the teams finish in the final standings in the De Anza Division are seeded the same way—one through six—in the CCS tournament.
Los Gatos had more short corners and time of possession in defeat. Photo by Robert Eliason.
Sports reporter Emanuel Lee can be reached at [email protected]
