There was a rainbow in the sky at Meridian High School on Thursday night, and the Mustang field hockey team got seven goals from seven different players en route to beating Liberty (Bealeton) 7-0.
After splitting a pair of games against 6A schools on opening week, Anne Steenhoek’s squad faced its first Northwestern District foe of the season as it welcomed the Liberty Eagles to town. It didn’t take long to find out who had the upper hand.
Meridian got goals from Emery Pintauro, Emma Flanagan, and Cailyn Murphy in the first quarter, and then from Elly Shin, Zorah Randhawa, and Megan FitzGerald in the second, giving the Mustangs a 6-0 lead at halftime. There were light on-and-off rain showers throughout the evening, picking up towards the end of the first half, and the illusion they created in the air was perhaps an omen of the fortunate final score.
Claire Vernon became the seventh different Mustang to score early in the third quarter, and the game would end early by Mercy Rule, as it does anytime a team leads by six or more goals after three periods. Meridian improves to 2-1 on the season with the victory, while Liberty takes its fourth straight loss to drop to 1-4.
Next up, the Mustangs will stay home to take on Brentsville District next Tuesday.