Baker breaks out against Foothill

Senior Anna Belenis takes a draw against a Foothill Player. Davis beat Foothill 11-10 on Mar. 4.
Senior Anna Belenis takes a draw against a Foothill player. The women’s lacrosse team beat Foothill 11-10 on March 4. (Photo: C. Richey)Eni

By Owen Yancher,
BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

Twelve seconds remain on the clock. The game is tied at 10. The torrential downpour of rain ceases momentarily as senior Anna Belenis crouches into position to take an eight-meter penalty shot for Davis.

The referee blows his whistle and Belenis reacts immediately, faking out the defense and shuffling a pass towards senior Isabella Babich. Babich snags the ball and rips it towards the netting. Babich scores. Davis wins.

After allowing three goals in first five minutes of its game against Foothill (2-1) on Friday, March 4, the Davis High women’s lacrosse team (3-0) kicked into gear, staying neck-and-neck with the Falcons until the final seconds, eventually pulling out an 11-10 victory.

During the final 30 seconds of the game, Foothill managed to slip the rock past junior Devil goalkeeper Sophia Hahn and tie the game at 10. Unfazed, Davis won the ensuing draw and Belenis’ penalty shot opportunity set Babich up for the winning goal.

Although the late Devil heroics were nothing less than incredible, the real magic came off the shaft of Davis sophomore Ellie Baker. Baker amassed six goals on the night; three in each half.

“Ellie’s a great shooter,” Devil head coach Jen Morris said. “I’ve been waiting for her to have her breakthrough game, so it was nice that she had that game tonight when we really needed it.”

And Baker’s scoring was desperately needed Friday night. Davis was without three of its top offensive weapons: freshman Alex Agnew and juniors Camille Renaud (hip injury) and Nicole Pugh were all unavailable to play.

Other Devil scores came from senior captain Abbey Meyer, who had two goals, Belenis, who normally leads the Devil defense and junior powerhouse Darby Maguire. A trio of senior Devil defenders–Sarah Sherwin, Isabel Realyvasquez and Emily Lopez-Ichikawa–hounded the Foothill offense all night long.

The next three opponents Davis will face are all top contenders in the Sac-Joaquin Section, but Belenis didn’t show a hint of concern for the tough games ahead.

“We always play really well against good teams, so I’m excited,” she said.

The team’s next contest is Tuesday, March 8 against the San Ramon Valley Wolves (3-0) in Danville.

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