The third Senior Salute girls field-hockey tournament was held recently at Meridian High School in Falls Church.
The all-star event consisted of three games and included 48 of the top 6D and 6C North Region senior public-school players in Northern Virginia. Each player participated in two matches.
A standout high-school field-hockey career ended recently when Potomac School senior Bella Kim played her final match.
Kim finished as the Potomac School’s all-time leading goal scorer in the girls high-school sport with 74 goals, including a single-season program best this fall with 25.
Three players from the state-runner-up Oakton Cougars girls field-hockey team were chosen to the Virginia High School League Class 6 all-state first team, as were three from Fairfax High School.
Oakton senior forward Avery DeKoven, junior midfielder Marisa Rubano and freshman defender Daniella Rubano were Oakton’s first-team selections.
Slighted — very much unintentionally — during pregame introductions, Bella Kim certainly wasn’t forgotten once a recent all-star field-hockey match began.
By scoring a goal, assisting on another and taking multiple shots, the senior for the Potomac School Panthers was selected as the Player of the Game for the Home team in the annual Independent School League girls all-star game.
Last season had been the most successful in program history for the Oakton Cougars as the girls field-hockey team won district and region titles and reached the state-tournament semifinals.
This fall was even better. Oakton (22-3) won the same two championships, then advanced to the Virginia High School League Class 6 state tournament-title match.
By matching their most lopsided victory of the season, the Oakton Cougars won their opening match of the state field-hockey tournament.
Oakton (21-2) routed the visiting North Stafford Wolverines, 7-0, in that Virginia High School League Class 6 girls contest. The victory was the 13th in a row this season for a team that already has won Concorde District and 6D North Region tournaments this fall and is now 6-0 in the postseason.
It was deja vu all over again in the championship match of this season’s girls 6D North Region field hockey tournament, with one difference.
The Oakton Cougars won the title for the second straight year over the Yorktown Patriots, 1-0, but on the road instead of on their home turf. Oakton also won by a one-goal margin, 2-1, over the Patriots in 2023.
For the second straight season, the Oakton Cougars field-hockey team ran the table with a perfect 12-0 record in the Concorde District and winning regular-season and tournament championships.
On its home field, top-seed Oakton (17-2) nipped the No. 2 seed Madison Warhawks, 1-0, in the Thursday (Oct. 24) title match of the girls high-school field-hockey tournament. Rachel Sweeney scored the game’s only goal early in the second quarter.
