The varsity field hockey team fell in the third round of the playoffs on Tuesday, Nov. 3, with a single-goal difference knocking them out of the 4A West Regional playoffs.  The team fell short to highly-touted opponent B-CC by a score of 1-2.


 

Despite finishing the regular season with a strong 10-2 record and earning a first round bye in the playoffs, B-CC, whom The Gazette ranked as the top team in the area, was too much for the Wildcats to handle. 

The team wasn’t playing their best toward the end of the season.  After starting the season 5-1, the team admits that they let some of their success go to their head.  The team began to settle in practice and games and didn’t play with the intensity and focus they had at the beginning of the season.  The team carried this mentality into their second round playoff game against lower-seeded Northwest.  Their diminishing performance was more apparent than ever after only a single goal win against Northwest.  Although WJ had previously beat Northwest 4-0 in the first game of the regular season, they squeaked by in the playoffs with a 1-0 victory.

 After narrowly defeating Northwest, the team drew a surprising match up against B-CC.  WJ and B-CC had the two best records in their division, and the Cats hoped to play them later in the playoffs, preferably in the regional championships. 

 “The brackets were reorganized this year so we were put into a bracket with some of the teams from our division,” said senior midfielder Georgina Beven.  “A team we beat this season is now in the state championships,” she said, referring to the Blake field hockey team. 

WJ had played a very tough game against B-CC in the fourth game of the regular season, but fell short in overtime 1 to 2.  They lost to B-CC by the same score, 1-2, in their playoff match up as well. 

“B-CC is a strong team, always have been,” said coach Erika Murray.  “They were undefeated against county schools.  We played them the toughest of any school in the county both times around.”

Despite this unfortunate end to their season, the team feels very satisfied with their performance this season and optimistic about their future. 

“My goals for next year’s team is to live up to the reputation that this year’s team has created,” said Murray. “They are hard workers and are always looking for ways to improve, I hope that carries into the off-season and they come back even more prepared then they were this year.”