Single Goal Means a Lot to This Westminster Team

All athletes go through scoring droughts, some worse than others. For the Westminster field hockey team it was almost terminal. The Lions went almost five years without scoring a goal.

Finally, in their opening game this season, the Lions, who hadn’t scored since 1994, put one in the net against Newport Harbor. They lost, 9-1, but considered it a victory nonetheless.

“We finally broke the curse,” said Diann Pendergrass, the team’s first-year coach. “It was like slow motion when it happened. At first, nobody believed it was in the goal. Everyone was standing there not doing anything, and then all of a sudden everyone started screaming.”

The goal was scored by sophomore Raquel Romero off assists from seniors Jennifer Breland and Karla Lopez, both of whom played through most of the scoreless streak.

“I looked at Breland after the goal and asked her if that was tears I saw in her eyes,” Pendergrass said. “She said, ‘Yeah, I’m just so happy.’ ”

The goal helped ease some tensions of a season that hasn’t been easy for the Lions.

In June it was announced the program was going to be eliminated because of a lack of interest. That’s when Pendergrass stepped in. A special education teacher at Westminster the past five years, Pendergrass played field hockey for the Lions in 1974-75. She went to school administrators and begged for the sport’s reprieve.

But who would pay for it?

“It’s not like when I played,” Pendergrass said. “Back then, you didn’t have to pay for anything. Now, the girls have to do what they can.”

With the cost of a traditional field hockey kilt about $40, Pendergrass decided her team was going to wear shorts instead, which Pendergrass got for $7 each, plus two shirts for $20 each.

“I told the girls it was time to take off the kilts, put on shorts and get out there and really play field hockey,” she said.

The Lions’ equipment is also in sad shape. The hockey sticks are so old that Pendergrass said one broke when a player took a normal swing at the ball. And the goalkeepers are having to tape their foot guards together.

Despite offers from other Sunset League teams, Pendergrass doesn’t want to borrow from the competition.

“They aren’t complaining about anything,” she said of her players. “They are willing to work for everything. They have more spirit and heart than any team I know.”

FIRST-YEAR BLUES

For the second straight week, Fairmont’s first-year football program lost by at least 50 points.

Mission Hills Tri-City Christian shut out the Huskies, 55-0, holding them to less than 100 yards total offense Friday.

The Huskies lost to Lucerne Valley, 58-8, in their first game. Things don’t get any better this week, when Fairmont (0-2) travels to North Hollywood Campbell Hall. The Vikings (1-1) have scored 74 points in their first two games.

EARLY EXIT

Injuries prevented Southern California Christian from finishing its game at Riverside Sherman Indian Friday. The Flames were down 21-0 at halftime and didn’t have enough healthy players to take the field in the second half.