The Wildcats made it to their senior night, playing the Sherwood Warriors in a solid battle, winning 4-0. On Oct. 10 the Wildcats celebrated their seniors with posters, banners and handmade t-shirts.
The favorite memories of most seniors consisted of traditions, specific games, moments and the times they’ve spent with their teammates. As families walked them down the so-called aisle, the achievements and future aspirations of these seniors were shared.
Number 15 Lilly Delp plans to attend college next fall and study sociology. Her favorite memory was getting to play with her sister. Number 20 Natalya Krouse plans to attend the University of Connecticut and play lacrosse next fall. Her favorite memory was spending time with her teammates at team dinners and winning in overtime against Quince Orchard. Krouse also thanked her sister for being her biggest supporter on the sideline. Number 30 Jordan Potash plans to attend college next fall as well and study finance. Her favorite memory is beating Churchill and celebrating it after. These three, along with 9 other seniors shared their last four years with this team proudly.
During the game, Coach Laura Brager started six seniors in the first quarter and the other six in the second, giving them runs throughout. The seniors were working the ball throughout the field making the Warriors run in circles. Quickly into the game senior Keira Poersch scored with 3:35 left. This gave the Wildcats the upperhand to start the second.
“I was just very excited because we scored and Keira’s a senior,” senior captain Natalya Krouse said.
The second quarter score stayed the same with limited opportunities for the Wildcats. Many free hits were given to the Wildcats along with some corners, but nothing capitalized on.
“I think people are just scared to shoot the ball, so we’re not utilizing all the opportunities we have,” Krouse said.
By the third quarter the team got their motivation and energy back. They were working the ball around strongly and getting it to Delp to produce for Poersch up top.
“Our coach dropped the plan of doing half the seniors each quarter and she let us play regularly and with a usual set up. That helped us gain momentum again and get a couple goals because we knew what we were doing,” Delp said.
With only 4:33 left in the quarter Delp took the ball and sent it to the boards, scoring and putting the score at 2-0.
“It definitely boosted our confidence a lot and reminded us that this was a game we should win so everyone started to play more intensely and we really had people putting in one hundred percent effort,” Delp said.
In the fourth quarter the Wildcats completely dominated and pushed their lead farther ahead. The Wildcats scored with 13:43 left in the game and again with 12:28 left.
“I think we were just focusing more on defense to stop them from scoring rather than us trying to push to goal,” Krouse said.
Two days later on Oct. 12, the Wildcats faced off against the Blair Blazers. In another hard game the Wildcats pulled out a 2-0 win. The Wildcats were able to overpower the Blazers early into the game and ended as the stronger team.
With the Wildcats coming back from a solid winn against the Warriors, they had the momentum and motivation to keep the winning streak going.
“It gave us the energy we needed because a few of us were a little nervous going into the game, but remembering how well we played against Sherwood reminded us we could do it again,” Delp said.
In the first quarter the Wildcats came out strong and fighting. Delp scored quickly into the game putting the Wildcats at a high advantage.
“Our midfielder Mary Mercurio inserted the ball for the corner and the corner was actually supposed to be a slip pass from me to Gillian [Rosenstock] but I shot it because she wasn’t open,” Delp said.
The second quarter was slower with not much happening. The Wildcats were still dominating but couldn’t get a shot off.
The Blazers were able to penetrate the Wildcats midfield with their speed but the strong back line stopped them before getting to the circle.
“They had good speed and were able to take the ball down the sideline which beat the midfield,” junior Hildi Altman said.
In the third quarter the Wildcats managed to get another goal. Their strong forward line got them into the circle and gave them scoring opportunities.
The fourth quarter was spent holding off the Blazers from getting through the midfield, which the Wildcats were able to do as they held their lead.
“We made sure we connected passes so they couldn’t have a breakaway and kept it in their fifty,” Altman said.
The team finished their regular season by beating Blake High School 6-1. They start their playoff campaign against on Thursday, Oct. 26 at 7:30 p.m. at BCC.
