As one of the flagship programs at Meridian High School for the past couple seasons, the Mustang field hockey team hosted a sizable audience on Thursday night despite the brisk October weather as they hosted Annandale in their regular season finale. Good news was in store for the Mustangs even before the puck dropped, as the squad clinched homefield advantage throughout the District Tournament, but there was still business to take care of against what head coach Anne Steenhoek described as a tough opponent.
It would prove to be a hard-fought contest by both teams, with no scoring in the first three quarters. The two squads seemed fairly evenly matched, and freshman goaltender Baelyn Reinfurt did an admirable job for Meridian to keep the visitors off the board as Annandale saw a few different quality opportunities. So did the Mustangs, though, and just past two minutes into the fourth quarter, they finally converted as Emma Flanagan put one in during a gritty crash-the-net sequence that saw multiple rebounds. Then about six minutes later, Lila Deering scored on a pass from Gia Khan to make it 2-0, and Meridian was able to hold on the rest of the way.
The Mustangs conclude their regular season at 13-2-1, and will now set their sights on backing up their trip to the State Finals a year ago. The District postseason is set to begin next Monday.