By Kailyn Huynh
Last Friday, Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) field hockey faced the Newport Harbor Sailors, losing by a score of 1-4. The Barons made a fierce effort to contain the Sailors, but fell short to Newport Harbor’s attacks.
In the first quarter, neither team had scored. Newport maintained a hold of their possession for the first few minutes of the game, but the Barons kept a strong defense, despite some of the Sailors’ skillful drives. Throughout the beginning quarter, the two teams constantly exchanged possessions, both being blocked on their scoring attempts by the opposition.
Things got heated in the second quarter when Senior forward Natalie Zordani made the first goal of the game, bringing the score to 1-0.
“I was pretty happy,” Zordani said. “It’s my first goal this season.”
The Sailors made an attempt to tie the score, but were blocked by senior goalie Katherine Drechsler. They also received a penalty stroke and were stopped once again.
Five minutes before the second quarter was over, Newport succeeded in scoring and the game was tied. Shortly after, they managed to make another goal, stealing the lead with two minutes left on the clock, and bringing the score to 1-2 at the half.
During the third quarter, the Sailors furthered their lead once more, to a score of 1-3.
Both teams kept the competition high and continued to play hard throughout the entire fourth quarter. The Barons were able to contain Newport all the way up until the two-minute mark, where the Sailors would make their final goal, bringing the end score to 1-4.
“I think it was closer than what the final score showed,” head coach Mary-Ellen Esquer said. “Every game we’re improving.”
Esquer mentioned Zordani’s goal and highlighted the performance of their goalie.
“The ball was in our end most of the game, so she had a lot of action,” Esquer said. “Newport attacks the goalies a lot, and so she really hung in there. If it wasn’t for how well she played, the score would have been a lot higher than it was.”
