The Varsity Field Hockey team found victory “Under the Lights.”

First place medals were presented to the team at a tournament on September 11.  The team participated in the “Under the Lights” tournament along with eight other high school teams, including West Potomac, Lee, Fairfax, Stuart, Falls Church, Woodbridge, Hylton, and Garfield.

The tournament was played at Lee High School in Franconia. The WS team played a total of four games, two games on Friday and two games on Saturday. The Spartans also won a different tournament last year, the “Bull Dog” tournament, and this was their first year playing in the “Under the Lights” tournament. Nonetheless, they made a great impression among the other teams in the district and the region.

After winning the early games and working hard throughout the tournament, WS defeated Lee in the championship game on Saturday. The final score was 1-0, with the winning goal made by captain and senior Liz Keast.  Early in the game, she scored on a stroke against the Lee goalie. In the first game, the Spartans crushed Garfield 8-0. The following game was played against Fairfax, which ended in a tie, 1-1. The third game played by WS was against West Potomac, resulting in a 2-1 win.  Finally, the Spartans earned their way to the championship game against Lee, and it resulted in glory.

“It was not a very hard game, but they had one good player and we put Sara Blaylock on her,” said Head Coach Rosie Pannoni.

Kalie Leonard, a senior who has been playing field hockey since her freshman year, suffered a drastic injury during the tournament. During the last four minutes of the championship game, Leonard was hit in the eye and later received seven stitches.

“An opposing teammate lifted the ball into my eye and it just started bleeding,” said Leonard. “Sara Blaylock came over and tried to stop the bleeding.” 

According to Pannoni, Fairfax High School was the most challenging of the teams played by the Spartans in the tournament.

Fairfax had recently defeated Woodson High School in a regular season game, and  Woodson is expected to be one of the top teams in the region.

“The Fairfax game was intense,” said junior Anna DeMarr, “but it was a blast.”