On October 26th, Patriot’s girls field hockey team faced off against Forest Park in the Region 6B Quarterfinals. Both teams only played one common opponent so far in Colgan, so neither team had much experience or exposure to the other. However, Patriot prevailed against Colgan, beating them 2-1 in their first game of the season. On the other hand, Forest Park had lost both games against Colgan, so Patriot felt confident in their chances. 

In their last loss in the district title, Patriot fell 3-1 against Battlefield. A major issue that they came upon was defending against penalty corners, giving up two goals from them. 

When asked about how they were going to fix the issue for Forest Park, Catherine Callaway (‘24), one of Patriot’s defenders, said, “Recently, we have fixed our corner situation, so we have a new plan and a new strategy and structure of where everyone goes on corners.” 

Callaway was 2nd team All-State last year and is one of Patriot’s defensive leaders. 

Throughout the Forest Park game, Patriot’s defense excelled against penalty corners and gave up zero goals during the game. They have three senior defenders who all earned All-District honors this season: Catherine Callaway, Ellyse Wilson, and Emma Capuano. They’ve played three years all together ever since Capuano began playing field hockey her sophomore year. 

“Me, Ellyse, and Emma became really close and best friends, so on the field it was a little easier to fit with chemistry. Ellyse is new to defense this year, so being a close friend to her, it was easy to explain (the position), and if she did something that we’re not used to, we explain to her, or she explains to us what we can do so we can all work together really well,” Callaway said.

In a win-or-go-home game, the stakes were as high as ever. Coming into a hostile environment at Forest Park High School, Patriot knew that their offense had to set the tone early and often to prevail in this matchup and they did not disappoint. 

Patriot’s offense put up six goals, three in the first quarter, completely pestering Forest Park’s backline all game. Faith Fernandez (‘26) had three, Chloe Annibell (‘24) had two, and Grace Honkus (‘26) had one. 

In a recent interview with Patriot’s field hockey coach, Coach Ortiz, from Prince William Times, Ortiz praised Fernandez, saying, “Faith is an incredible athlete. She’s only a sophomore and she is just so strong.” 

Fernandez has been looked upon this year to help out Annibell on the front line after Lexi Frances’s (‘23) graduation. Frances was 2nd team All-State last year and losing her was seen as a detrimental blow to the team by fans before the season started. However, Fernandez has done nothing but excel in filling in her spot and has become one of the team’s top goal scorers this season.

When asked if she had to step into any leadership role this season, Fernandez responded, “I got promoted to captain last week full time. To be honest, I was a little confused at first, but she (Coach Ortiz) said that I lead by example.”

Patriot ended the game winning 6-0 as they kickstarted their regional playoff run and are looking towards winning the region this year. 

Their next game is October 31st at 6:00p.m., where they take on Stafford High School (18-3) in the Regional Semi-Finals.