After Eureka’s field hockey team lost to Visitation Academy 2-0 in the second round of the Midwest Tournament Oct. 22, the usual emotions of a season’s end came pouring out on the Wildcat sideline.
Head coach Melissa Menchella, a Eureka grad, thanked the 14 seniors who she said transformed the team to compete with an established private-school program like Viz (12-5) and finish with a more-than-respectable 12-7 record.
When Menchella finished talking, some of the Wildcat seniors who’d played all four years told their teammates what that time meant to them. No sobbing, just a few tears and laughter that ended with one last group hurrah.
“They came in and absolutely changed our program in regard to competition,” Menchella said. “This group sparked our ability to have a C team four years ago. Being able to reminisce with them about how they left the program better than they found it is the best way we can reflect on the season.”
The Wildcats and Vivettes were scoreless through the first quarter before senior Jenna Steinhubl gave Viz a 1-0 lead when her shot beat senior goalie Anna Hollenbeck for a goal after a corner with 9:09 left in the second.
The Vivettes had 10 corners in the game; Eureka had none. Corners increase a team’s chances at scoring because the defending team has to drop its players out of the goal area and allow a free pass. Freshman Evie Harris took all of the Vivettes’ corners.
“Not having (a corner) is unusual; we usually get a few,” Menchella said.
Despite that, Eureka applied offensive pressure at times, but never really tested Viz goalie Isabella Vlaytchev, a junior, who earned the shutout.
Hollenbeck made two superb saves in the second half to keep Eureka within a goal. The Wildcats didn’t allow Viz leading scorer Tess Reed – who has 12 goals – to score, although she did assist on both Vivette goals.
With the game in its final moments and an opportunity for the winner to play St. Joseph’s Academy in the tournament Elite 8, the Wildcats were right there. Harris ended the suspense with a goal with 2:49 left in the game.
“We made it to the Sweet 16 in 2019 off an upset, so I told the girls before the game we’ve always been in the play-in game and fought our way through the round of 32,” Menchella said. “Making it this far without having to get an upset is a win for itself.
“We weren’t going to let Viz have an easy win and we were making them claw and scrape. They are very balanced and they all do their jobs incredibly well, and they had a pack mentality today to get past us. They have some big-time college commits on their team and we don’t.”
Eureka seniors Lanie Diekhoff, Lilly McCollum and Mia Smith were all four-year starters. McCollum led the Wildcats with eight goals and 17 points this season. She will begin preparing next week for her fourth season in wrestling. McCollum is a three-time state qualifier and two-time medalist, finishing fourth both times.
“It was a good day to see them fight the way they did,” Menchella said. “(With) 20 seconds left in the game, one of our defenders hustled to get the ball instead of just letting it go. That shows the heart of the team. They didn’t stop until the last buzzer.”
St. Joe’s beat Viz 2-1 in the quarterfinal on Tuesday.
In the first round of the tournament on Oct. 19, Eureka hosted and beat Notre Dame of St. Louis 2-0. Junior Isabelle Young scored a goal in the first and another in the third, with Diekhoff and McCollum assisting. Hollenbeck posted the shutout.