By Sarah Snare
LoCoSports Staff Writer
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Purcellville (August 24, 2016) — The Wolverines of Woodgrove High School put their names in the books on August 23 as they won the first ever varsity field hockey game in school history against crosstown rivals of Loudoun Valley High School. The final score was 8-0, concluding 15 minutes early due to mercy rule.
“We’ve already had two scrimmages this season and it’s been nothing but improvement,” Woodgrove head coach Kerri Reid said. “I really can’t ask for much more from them right now.”
Woodgrove started off the game strong, with freshman Caroline Catterton scoring the first goal before the five-minute mark. The Wolverines were able to attain an additional five points before the end of the first half, keeping the ball almost exclusively on their side of the field.
As the second half began, Catterton added another point to the scoreboard for Woodgrove. Just one goal and seven minutes later, the referees declared mercy rule, ending the game with a sweeping victory of 8-0 for the Wolverines.
“I think we played well,” Catterton said. “We still have things to improve on. However, I think we did really good for our first game, winning, by a lot!”
Woodgrove senior captain Isabel Thompson was the star of the game, scoring four out of the eight goals along with countless steals, blocks and assists to her sister, freshman Sofia Thompson.
“It’s kinda weird playing on the same team as my sister became we don’t get along all the time,” Isabel said. “But I’m happy that we get to play together for at least one year.”
Isabel – who has been playing field hockey for nine years – is one of the few players on the team with prior experience in the sport. Woodgrove’s 28-girl team is comprised mostly of first-time players. Tryout days showed an overwhelming amount of girls willing and eager to learn a whole new sport, so many that the coaches had to make 15 cuts.
Despite the talent and enthusiasm the Wolverines possess, there have been quite a few challenges that have come along with being a brand new sport.
“For us it’s just getting used to things,” Reid said. “There’s no routine. There’s nothing that’s been set before. We have to come up with everything, the whole warm-up routine, everything. We actually had to practice lining up for the pre-game line-up when they call out starters. They’re things you don’t think about at first.”
Reid – who also coaches girls’ lacrosse at Woodgrove – is a first-time field hockey coach. She is not completely in the dark, though, as she did play on her high school team back in the day.
Over on the other side of the field, even though they did not come out with a win, the Vikings saw this game as a success.
“It was a learning experience; it’s exactly what I expected,” Loudoun Valley head coach Jessi Coil said. “A lot of the girls have never played before, so this was just letting everybody see what the game looks like, letting them all play together.”
Loudoun Valley senior captain Lucy Woodie felt the same way.
“We were really strong in that we played together and used our individual skills, but I think we could do better with communication,” Woodie said. “We should really just focus on melding as a team and becoming more of a unit.”
The Wolverines have goals similar to Woodie’s for themselves in upcoming games.
“A big thing is we just really need to work on communication,” Reid said. “We’re still working on communicating, that team bonding aspect, and just being comfortable with the whole atmosphere of it actually being a game.”
With such a strong start to their first season, the Wolverines are optimistic that they will quickly make a name for themselves in the region.
“If we keep it up and keep progressing as we have been, I think that we could go pretty far,” Reid said. “Once we figure out what’s going on, I think we’ll really be a team to look out for.”
Scoring:
1H 25:03 WG #23 Caroline Catterton
1H 21:02 WG #21 Isabel Thompson
1H 16:50 WG #21 Isabel Thompson
1H 13:31 WG #21 Isabel Thompson
1H 9:18 WG #6 Jensen Bury
1H 3:39 WG #14 Sofia Thompson
2H 21:04 WG #23 Caroline Catterton
2H 18:48 WG #21 Isabel Thompson