Ravens Fly High in Inaugural Win

By Timmy Chu, Photo by Kelsey Young and Kathryn Stevens

September 27, 2013 – The CCA Ravens Field Hockey team opened up the inaugural game on the new turf field with a big 6-0 shutout win over SDA. The annual game between CCA and SDA is known as the Clash of the Academies with the winner claiming the Spirit Stick, a bedazzled field hockey stick covered in ribbons and sparkly studs. Seniors Gabby De Petro, Katie Carlson, Sandy Taylor, and Haley Schroeder all contributed to the win with goals; Schroeder being the catalyst to create opportunities for her teammates and rack up two assists for a San Diego-leading 10 assists.  Forward Katie Carlson scored a hat trick to lead the Ravens and cement herself as the goal-scoring leader in the San Diego section with 17. Ravens are dominating San Diego field hockey with Schroeder notching 13 goals and De Petro tacking on another 11 goals to take the top three goal-scoring spots in San Diego alongside Carlson.

The Ravens have started off the season strong with a 12-1 record and the sole loss being an unlucky game against San Pasqual in the Otay Ranch Tournament. Last season, the Ravens put together a 20-game win streak to start off the season and made it to the CIF Finals, where they hope to be again at the end of this season. After losing several key seniors last year in goalkeeper Clara Belitz; midfielder Natalie Yahnke; defenders Reagan Zorn, Jen Krakower, Kelsey Burgett, Ellie Beniston; and forward Kate Chamberlain, CCA has bounced back with a strong cohesive unit. Caroline Bowman anchors the shutdown defense, De Petro and Emma Normoyle get things going in the midfield; Schroeder creates goal-scoring opportunities; and forwards Sandy Taylor and Katie Carlson finish strong.

The christening of the new field kicked off a new generation for CCA athletics with CCA Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Jeff Copeland, SDUHSD Vice President Amy Herman, SDUHSD Trustee Joyce Dalessandro, SDUHSD Assistant Superintendent Eric Dill, SDUHSD Clerk Beth Hergesheimer, SDUHSD President Barbara Goss, CCA Foundation Vice President of Athletic Programs Karen Dillen, and CCA Principal Karl Mueller all in attendance. The new field has already impacted several field hockey athletes. Caroline Bowman, captain and defensive standout, states that “finally being able to call a turf field our home felt unreal because I finally felt like we were competition, like we were legit. There was and is nothing other schools can say about us now, like oh they beat us because they have a horrible field, but now they have no excuses. We can now take full credit for our wins based on hard work and skill.” Cornell-commit Gabby De Petro felt that “the whole team used the opening ceremony as extra motivation for the game. As athletes, we’ve all been waiting for so long to get a turf field, but seeing it finished with a giant raven in the middle made it worth the wait.”

The inaugural game also marked the debut of CCA’s new spirit team, Raven Nation, which helped attribute to CCA’s first true home-field advantage. Captain Haley Schroeder comments “the fans really changed the whole dynamic of the game and there was no better feeling than hearing the crowd go wild after a sweet goal.”

Ravens field hockey has won its last four games – all shutouts – over Del Norte, Valley Center, SDA, and Cathedral Catholic. They faced Cathedral Catholic on Thursday, 10/3, and came out with a statement win with a final score of 2-0. Katie Carlson scored a highlight-reel worthy goal, assisted by junior Thea Hanson. Haley Schroeder also poked in a goal to seal the win.

CCA field hockey will be graduating a strong class this year but juniors Thea Hanson and Anita Kelleher are looking to learn from this year’s seniors. Young players to watch include freshman defender Kragen Metz, freshman midfielder Julia Little, and sophomore defender Rayna Higuchi. Looking forward to next season, junior captain Kelleher assures that “this year we gained 4 very talented freshmen who will be huge additions to our team. Each day, they’re only improving more and more and it’s been awesome watching them grow.”