Piedmont High School’s girls lacrosse team lost seven seniors from last year’s squad. So there’s going to be a learning curve this year.
However, the Highlanders also expect to maintain the strong level of play that has been a tradition in the program.
“This is turning out to be a really good team,” Piedmont coach Carlton Chan said. “They play well together.”
Some of the talent (from previous seasons) on tap for the year
Friedie Schickedanz 
Piedmont’s Chloe Graham (2) and Peyton Watson (18) watch as teammate Hallie Burden tries to get by Monte Vista’s Corinne Negrete (20) (Photo by Damin Esper)
Another strong group of seniors is leading the Highlanders. One of them is Sophie Santander who is taking over as the starting goalkeeper. She played just two halves in the net last year.
“She’s kind of a wall,” Chan said. “We’re going to do well just because of Sophie.”
Friedie Schickedanz is a four-year varsity player and will line up at X.
“Every year she gets better and better,” Chan said. “Lining up at X. But because were such a thin team, we’re having her take the draw. She has to win the draw, set the play and then get all the way back to her X position.”
Senior midfielder Luisa Cole is another player back.
“Probably one of our best defenders,” Chan said. “We have to have her as a midfielder.”
Chan noted he coached her sister Ellie and he has had the benefit of eight years with a Cole on the roster.
“It would be nice if there was another Cole,” he joked.
Chloe Graham is a senior joining Cole and Schickedanz as captains, along with junior midfielder Peyton Watson. Chan called Watson his best offensive player.
“We’re running a lot of plays between Peyton and Chloe,” Chan said. “If you look at the top teams, they run a lot of two-person matchup.”
Senior Annika Hattan-Kutter was the starting goalkeeper last year but asked to move to the field, where she will sparkle on defense.
“She took a couple of hard hits as the goalie,” Chan said. “She has turned out to be a really, really good defender. She’s really fast. You don’t see that in the goal. She is solid on D but we also have her play on the circle on the draw.”
Chan said he originally pulled a couple of strong teams off of the schedule because he wasn’t sure how good his team would be. But he says now that it is developing well, especially on defense.
“There are a lot of new defenders,” Chan said. “They came together quickly. Offensively, it’s going to take a lot of time. New girls there too. The first three games they were under a lot of pressure.”
The Highlanders are 3-2 on the young season, sweeping their first three West Alameda County Conference games and losing to Amador Valley and Campolindo. They opened on Feb. 25 with an 18-0 win at Washington. Watson had six goals to lead the attack. Schickedanz had four while Graham, Jameson Sanford and Olive Litwin each had two. Cole and Dahlia Osman had one apiece.
On Feb. 27, Piedmont defeated Moreau Catholic on the road, 18-1. Watson again bagged half a dozen goals. Mary Schickedanz had four goals while Graham, Litwin and Emily Williamson each had two. Sanford and Osman had single goals. Ava Chavez had the goal for the Mariners.
On Feb. 28, Piedmont lost at home to Amador Valley, 14-3.
“Our defense really kept us in the game against Amador,” Chan said. “Their top player is a Division 1 recruit to Oregon.”
That would be Sam Nissen, who won six draws and scored three goals for the Dons. Brooklyn Harmon had three goals while Lexi Keegan and Giselle Bauman had two apiece. Charlotte Merrill, Ally Haley and Evangeline Freschi each had one. The other goal was an own goal.
Piedmont was led by two goals from Friedie Schickedanz and one from Graham. Santander had 13 saves.
On March 4, Piedmont defeated visiting Newark Memorial, 19-5. Watson had six goals, Graham five and Friedie Schickedanz four. Litwin added two. Cole and Mary Schickedanz each had one.
Gianna Hernandez scored three times for the Cougars while Thalia Hernandez had two goals.
On March 7, the Highlanders lost a heartbreaker at home to Campolindo, 13-12. Piedmont had to rally after falling behind 5-2 at halftime. The game was 8-8 heading to the fourth quarter. A goal by Watson with six minutes, five seconds to go in the fourth quarter tied it at 11-11 but the Cougars got goals from Elsie Ceridono and Kelsey Delamar to go up two. Friedie Schickedanz scored in the final minute but Piedmont couldn’t tie the game back up.
Watson and Graham each had five goals to lead the Highlanders. Friedie Schickedanz had the other two and also had five assists. Santander had seven saves.
Ceridono had six goals and Delamar had five. Maddie Collins had seven saves for the Cougars.