Hair's breadth for hockey girls Hair's breadth for hockey girls (September 09, 2005)

Eagles fall to Saratoga, but take heart in strong showing against last year's champs

By Scott Campbell

Coaches and players alike hate the terms "productive loss" or "moral victory," but Los Altos' narrow defeat to Saratoga on Sept. 6 certainly offered some encouraging signs.

Despite falling 1-0, Los Altos gave the host Falcons all they could handle. Far from being intimidated by playing last year's CCS co-champions, the Eagles allowed only a first-half goal, and barely missed a number of scoring opportunities of their own.

"I think the score is not really reflective because I feel like we played really well," said Los Altos junior Sarah Nolet. "I think it was pretty even. I don't think you could tell that they were CCS champions and we did really bad last year."

The Eagles (0-2) had a golden opportunity to score their first goal of the season in the 9th minute. A scramble near Saratoga's goal resulted in a penalty favoring the visitors, but Los Altos failed to convert its short corner.

Instead, it was the Falcons who would make the most of a similar free-for-all 8 minutes later.

Saratoga's Jennifer New slapped a shot that caromed off the crowd in front of the Los Altos goal, directly to teammate Tamara Schroeder, who fired it past the Eagles defense for the 1-0 lead.

Los Altos nearly answered when Shri Vyas and Nolet combined on a breakaway in the 24th minute. Taking a pass from Vyas just shy of midfield, Nolet streaked all the way to the Saratoga goal, but was met head-on by Falcons goalie Elisha Paul and lost the ball.

The Eagles knew that with a sharper focus and better passing, they could have taken an early lead. Instead, not only did the Falcons intercept a lot of free hits, but Los Altos was also rebuffed while attempting two more short corners before halftime.

"We get down on ourselves if the other team scores first ... so if we did score on those short-corner opportunities, especially that first one, it would've been really beneficial to our team," said Los Altos co-captain Fariba Dorosti.

A determined Eagles squad took the field for the second half and quickly showed its resolve. By more effectively stringing together passes and moving into open space, Los Altos began to dictate the pace.

But Saratoga (3-0) would keep the Eagles at bay and off the scoreboard. The Falcons mounted several attacks of their own and were fortunate to survive a narrow miss on the doorstep of their goal by Los Altos junior Chris Bilger midway through the half.

Falcons coach Amber Olsen sounded relieved to walk away with a victory.

"They're very aggressive and very intense," Olsen said of the Eagles. "My girls were not ready for that at all. I just think we were lucky and they were unlucky today because I thought it was a pretty fair game."

Following its season-opening 4-0 defeat to St. Francis on Sept. 1, Los Altos was encouraged to post a much stronger showing against another Mount Hamilton Division team. After facing two opponents that together own a share of three of the past four CCS titles, the Eagles should be well prepared once they begin play against the more pedestrian teams in the Santa Teresa Division.

Los Altos opens league competition by hosting Leland on Sept. 15.

E-mail Scott Campbell at sports@mv-voice.com

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