Up above the buildings of the campus, swathed in the clouds and tucked away between the fogs, the Las Positas Lady Hawks protected their nest against the invading Sierra College Wolverines. Saturday Nov. 19 was a wild game that saw numerous lead changes, multiple cards of varying color and inclement weather.
The game, which eventually turned into an all-out shootout between two offenses, didn’t start out as such. Hawk’s keeper Ali Nunes and Wolverine’s keeper Jamie Goodwin had a relatively “easy” go of things in the first half with the Wolverine’s only putting five shots on goal (the first not coming until ten minutes into the game) while the Hawks didn’t fire a single shot in Goodwin’s direction. The shot disparity in the first half wouldn’t have mattered had one of the shots, off of the foot of Goodwin, not gone in to break the 0-0 tie in the 30th minute of the game.
Goodwin came all the way down the field from her own goal to take a free kick after a Las Positas foul. The goal and the manner in which it came gave the game a real low scoring, defensive feel and that was only substantiated after the red card levied against Las Positas’ Mildreth Gil in the 36th minute. A gritty game ensued, just with more offensive firepower than the first 29 minutes. As half time approached, there was never a moment that this 1-0 deficit seemed insurmountable for the Hawks.
Physically, the two teams seemed to match up well against each other, but the second half tests your mettle just as much as your physical prowess and with the weather quickly deteriorating, the last 45minutes was destined to be hard fought. It did not disappoint in the slightest, at all.
The second half of the game saw six goals, the first of which came off of the boot of Medellin Alaina for Las Positas in the 54th minute of regulation. The tie wouldn’t last long though, Wolverine’s Sarah Sherwood saw to that with a ball in the back of the net during the 67th minute. That two-goal stretch saw the attitude of the game change. Five fouls were committed between the two squads in the first 22 minutes of the second half. As the rain fell ever more steadily, the electric tension of the games gravity became even more palpable.
The Hawks continued their comeback on the Wolverines in the 73rd minute when Yesica Morales buried a shot into the back of the net. They would take their first lead of the game just some five minutes later when Camila Fonseca scored on a penalty kick in the 78th minute. There was a general sense of jubilation after the goal hit home but much like the rest of the second half, the excitement was followed by disappointment.
In the 82nd minute Wolverine’s Noelle Anderson was able to score on a pass assisted by Sandra DeLeon tying the game 3-3. It seemed the game was destined to go into overtime. The Hawks however had no plans to do so. Shortly after they kicked the ball off Fonseca struck right back on an unassisted goal that would end up being the deciding score of the game. It happened so fast that you might have missed it if you blinked or wiped rain from your glasses.
Time could not go by fast enough for the Hawks, seven minutes to be exact. There was so much anticipation surrounding the final whistle that when the referee blew her whistle to signal a goal kick the Hawks sideline though it was the game ending whistle and a few of the players jumped up for joy and started running towards the playing field. They had to contain themselves for a few moments longer though before the game ending whistle was finally blown representing the end of a cold, damp, hard pressed and hard fought game.
The Lady Hawks will look to continue their playoff run Tuesday Nov. 22 at Diablo Valley College.