Ryan ChartrandThe Cal Poly field hockey club team managed to win a third straight championship Nov. 18 in Davis after playing a doubleheader in which both games went into overtime.
The Mustangs entered the playoff game ranked third out of the five colleges in the league. The yet-to-be named league consists of UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and Chico State.
“It wasn’t our best-played season, but we had the most amazing end,” said team captain and club president Brittany Follett.
The first game was the playoff match against UC Santa Barbara. Cal Poly’s Hannah Hartnett made the first goal and the Gauchos matched it. After a second goal was made by Cal Poly’s Emily Kirwan, the Gauchos scored and the game was tied at 2.
The game went into strokes – similar to penalty kicks in soccer – and five alternating strokes were taken by both teams.
Cal Poly goalkeeper Adele Schopf managed to stop two shots and called out an illegal first shot due to a technicality. Cal Poly won 4-2 to advance to the championship round.
Coming from a long first game, Cal Poly then played the previously undefeated Aggies of UC Davis.
Cal Poly head coach Chris Fuller gave the team a pep talk before the game about mental toughness that it needed to make big plays at the right times and to work hard until the game’s conclusion.
At first UC Davis had the advantage when it scored late in the second half.
With 15 minutes left in the game, Hana Michaelis shot the ball from the top of the 16-yard line to tie the game and the Mustangs went into overtime for a second time.
Within the last two minutes of the game, Hartnett took Fuller’s advice and shot in the game-winning goal. Cal Poly won the championship against UC Davis by a score of 2-1.
According to Hartnett, the referees after the game commented that the game was one of the most intense they have seen.
“We went especially crazy after the game ended,” Hartnett said. “We couldn’t believe we won. We jumped up and down on the field for five to 10 minutes straight.”
During the regular season, Cal Poly tied Chico State 1-1, lost 2-0 to UC Davis, beat UC Irvine 8-0, beat UC Santa Barbara 2-0, beat Chico State 3-0, beat UC Davis 3-2, lost 5-4 to UC Irvine and beat UC Santa Barbara 2-0.
Follett said she is going to miss playing in the club and all her teammates. The team will also lose five other senior players – Junny Kuo, Katie Miyashiro, Hana Michaelis, Ashley Ogle and Sam Rider.
Fuller is optimistic about next season and said even though there is a huge generational gap between the team, the freshmen players are skilled.
“I expect to win five (championships) in a row,” Fuller said.