Fossil Ridge field hockey wins for the first time in nearly four years, breaks 50-game losing streak
Fossil Ridge field hockey put an end to a 50-game losing streak with a 1-0 win over Liberty on Monday.
“It was kind of surreal,” Fossil Ridge coach Meredith Peters said. “Our seniors were in a little bit of shock. It was unreal, we didn’t know what to do at first. We really did it, we really won. It was so exciting.”
Senior captain Caroline Tychsen had yet to see a tally in the win column since she became a Sabercat until she scored the winning goal. Fossil Ridge hadn’t won a game since 2013 — Oct. 4, to be exact.
“She is one of the ones who has stuck with the program through all those losses,” Peters said on Tychsen, who tore her ACL last year and couldn’t play. “She was at every game, and she was our manager. So she came back, and she got the winning goal. It was extra sweet because she worked so hard to be able to come back and play her senior year.
“To be able to do it that way was great.”
For 50 straight games, Fossil Ridge shook the hands of it’s opponents after a loss. And sometimes they were bitter ones. Take, for example a 1-0 loss against Arapahoe to end last season.
“We were really hoping last year to finish with a win,” Peters said. “They hadn’t won yet either last season, and we thought we could win that one. We were on the offense the whole game, except for that one goal. It was heartbreaking. The captains said, ‘That’s it, we’re getting our win this year, we can’t finish without a win.'”
Tychsen put an end to the losing streak with a first-half goal in Fossil Ridge’s win against Liberty. It came on one of just three shots Fossil Ridge had on goal, but Tychsen scored the difference maker.
“This year, our big thing is if we communicate as a team and if we control the ball, we can control a game,” Peters said. “They have truly bought into, ‘Control the ball, control the game, control the outcome.'”
Kylie Weaver was stout in goal, saving 15 shots for the Sabercats to preserve the shutout.
Fossil Ridge’s 2013 win came against Cheyenne Mountain, a 1-0 victory.
