Carolyn Bowman’19 maneuvers the ball down the field. (Photo by Chris Heerman’18)

The field hockey game on Thursday, September 22, was a bittersweet victory for Academy. Although the team made some amazing plays and beat Bishop Watterson, avenging their regular season loss last year, they conceded a goal for the first time this season.

“The word of the day was energy,” Liana Shiroma’18 said about the match. “We were energetic. When we do cheers in the locker room before games, we say words [to motivate the team]. Energy came up a lot today.” The Vikings were pumped up and ready to go during Thursday’s match. They worked like a machine, with each player doing her part to achieve a common goal –victory against a formidable rival. Academy found the net often over the course of the match and beat Bishop Watterson 5-1.

One play that happened in the blink of an eye stood out to multiple players. Baylee Mueller’17 hit the ball from a defensive corner to the midfield, where Olivia Ryan’18 picked it up. Ryan passed it to Callista Popp’19, who ran the rest of the way down the field to Alaina Gwin’17. Popp passed the ball to Gwin, who scored off of the rebound.

However, not everything went Academy’s way. The team was scored on for the first time this season. Bishop Watterson’s team hit a ball to the opposite side of the goal that Tia Proicou’17 was barely unable to save. Still, it is proof of the team’s defensive clout that it was able to go ten games before conceding a single goal. The team did not despair, though, and Bishop Watterson didn’t score a goal for the rest of the match.

The Vikings have two games next week. They face CSG on Tuesday, September 27, and Olentangy Liberty on Thursday, September 29.