On Oct. 5, 2016, parents and students made their way to the stadium bleachers at Skyline High School. After watching the JV game between the Skyline Eagles’ and the Huron River Rats’ field hockey teams, spectators returned to see the second Varsity match between the cross-town rivals. Before the game, each player was announced and then they lined up at the 50 yard line for the National Anthem. The game began with the blow of a whistle.

Only a few weeks earlier, the Skyline Varsity field team had taken on the Huron Varsity team and had been beaten down by the power of the River Rats. This game, huron searched for another win, while Skyline wanted redemption against their rivals.

Huron player Minna Tremonti knew her team had to beat Skyline. Tremonti tried to stay focused before the game because she knew if they her team was not in the right mindset, Skyline could’ve come out victorious. Tremonti was nervous because her team wasn’t taking this game as seriously as they should have. “I try to go into everyday with the same mindset—play my best and stay focused,” Tremonti said. “I try to tell myself every team will give us a run for our money, so I can push myself to play harder.” Tremonti knew going into the game that Skyline had many solid players, so she knew the game was going to be one of their hardest games.

“Going into this game [our goal] was mostly intensity and just focus, we had a silent warmup to help get the team just focused and get ready for the game ahead,” said Skyline Junior Captain, Grace Gagliardi. Gagliardi knew her strategy was to come out with a lot of passion and fire, and to startle them because she didn’t think Huron saw what her team was capable from the last time they faced each other. “I think we were way more determined to beat them this time and show them what we really are made of, and show them how good we are as a team.” Gagliardi said

Tremonti felt that she could always improve her game, but this match she got hurt during the last few minutes. “I pulled something in my groin and it hurt to run and walk, limiting my game,” Tremonti said. “I also could have been more calm and patient with the referees.” Tremonti felt like she could have been more aggressive and gotten back to help the defense. “I was playing attacking mid this game when I usually play forward so I wasn’t really aware of my position at times.”

It was a close match, with Skyline and Huron scoring one goal each in the first half, and one goal each in the second half. Skyline’s goals were scored by seniors, Sydney Schuster and Abbey Hutton. Huron’s goals were scored by junior, Mairead Erhardt and sophomore, Catharina Guenther.

Skyline Head Coach Nicky Barrett thought that the game was intense and both teams played really hard, “I just wish we didn’t have any letdowns.” Barrett thought that after Skyline scored, Huron would play harder than before and her team wasn’t expecting it, so they would be chasing the ball instead of running with it. She wished that her team could have maintained more balance. Skyline put a different system in place at halftime that Barrett thought that after Skyline scored, Huron would play harder than before and her team wasn’t expecting it, so they would be chasing the ball instead of running with it.worked to help them have a better second half. “We knew [Huron] was going to be an intense team, a fast team, and we just did everything with a focus and with intensity and speed,” Barrett said.

“In my opinion the game could have been very different with different calls from the refs,” Tremonti said. “They called crucial fouls for us in the circle; thankfully they were calls against Skyline and we could take it out of the circle.”

The final score between Eagles and the River Rats was 2-2. Both of the teams felt that they played very well. “I feel like I gave it my all,” Gagliardi said. “At the end of the day I did everything that I could. I think we were way more determined to beat them this time and show them how good we are as a team.”

“I did feel that I played the best I could for the circumstances,” said Tremonti. “We beat [Skyline] earlier in the season. We had been playing strong throughout the season and I knew we could beat this team. Sadly, my intentions did not carry through to the game.”