EASTON - The dark clouds that overhung a damp, cold backdrop on a Friday afternoon when temperatures hovered in the 30s, proved to be an ominous sign for Pleasant Valley’s field hockey team.

It wasn’t going to be Bears day.

Host Easton dominated Pleasant Valley from start to finish as it rolled to a 9-0 shutout in a District 11 Class 3A opening-round contest.

Easton (10-1) tallied its first goal in the game’s first four minutes, and the Red Rovers went on to a 6-0 halftime lead. Pleasant Valley had some moments in the second half, but the Bears had few answers for a Red Rover team that outshot them 24-2.

“There’s just a level of speed and intensity that we need to work into to match,” said first-year head coach Carrie Overmohle, who previously had a long stint in the middle school program. “We just couldn’t string enough passes together to build or do anything.”

Despite the season-ending loss, Overmuhle sees promise for the club in the future. The Bears finished with an overall 5-4 mark during a season which saw the program sidelined for two weeks due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

“We were able to string some really strong things together, and we can keep building on that,” Overmuhle added.

“Our program has struggled to have consistency. Hopefully, we can get that going and get some traction.

“We will lose five seniors, but we have some people coming up who can help us.”

Senior Briella Kish knew the Bears would face a stiff challenge.

“They were very fast and quick, and they were able to work together well,” said Kish. “We weren’t unable to stop them. Honestly, I think we did a good job with our defense because they were in our end a lot, and we didn’t get over to their end very often.”

Kish believes the program can take another step next season.

“I think there is a lot of potential here,” said Kish.

“We have some really great freshmen and sophomores and they can be good in their junior and senior years.”