Entering their last week of regular season play, the Atoms have accrued varying amounts of success and currently have a record of 8-5 as of Oct. 5.
The Atoms suffered a recent loss to South County, who is the defending regional champion. The Stallions came out strong and, despite the Atoms’ effort, won the game 5-0.
“[The Stallions] came out with high intensity from the very first play, and I think we were definitely taken back by it,” senior Shannon Casey said. “They were confident in their stick skills and ability, and we could really benefit from having some of the same confidence.”
The Stallions scored within the first five minutes, but after that the Atoms gained more control over the game and began to attack the Stallion’s goal. AHS was unable to score and after the end of the first half, the Atoms were trailing 0-3.
“I think we need to work on anticipating shots,” senior Jenny Jessen said.
We did really well with marking, but got so focused on blocking the players that we sort of forgot about the ball.”
During the second half, the game was concentrated in the middle of the field, with both teams’ defenses stopping most of the attacks. However, the Stallions were able to break through and score twice more, bringing the final score of the game to 5-0.
“We’ll learn a lot from this game, which will lead us to future victories,” head coach Cindy Hook said. “We love to play tough teams because that’s when we learn the most.” “[The loss]really grounded us, and made us look at what we have to work on,” Jessen said. “I think it will really motivate us to work harder because we want to win districts and now we know what we need to do.”
The Atoms recently played Woodson, who many of the players consider to be their biggest rival, and defeated them in overtime.
“The win felt even better just because it was Woodson,” Casey said.
Woodson scored in the first half, but the Atoms came back to tie the game with a goal from junior Lizzie Manthos.
The time expired and the two teams battled during a 15 minute time period with only seven players from each team. Neither team scored during this and a round of penalty strokes began. The Atoms made all of their first three strokes and senior Jenny Jessen succeeded in blocking all of Woodson’s shots.
“I was really nervous to take [the stroke] at first, but after we made the first one, I felt a little less pressure,” Casey said. “I was so happy when I saw [the ball] go past the goalie because I knew my team was counting on me and I didn’t want to let them down.”
“I had been out sick for the week and was worried about my reaction times,” Jessen said. “Honestly, I don’t know how I stopped [the strokes], but it felt wonderful.”
The Atoms are hopeful looking forward to the postseason, but realize that they will have to finish out the season strong to be one of the top seeds.
“Our strengths are our competitive, never-give-up team spirit and our positive, can-do-attitude,” Hook said.
