The field hockey team has had an incredibly successful season. They beat Brookline 9-0 in the opener and started the season on a six-game winning streak. They are currently 14-2-1 with their only defeats coming from Natick and Walpole.
Captains Lydia Taber ’22, Ellie Mitchell ’22, Phoebe Clark ’22, and Megan Webb ’22 attribute their success to two things: a tight-knit team environment and the great talent of many of the players.
Taber says the team is very close, and they all support each other on and off the field by cheering on the sidelines and creating a fun and friendly atmosphere.
“One of the biggest things is driving to Sprague every day for practice. When there are underclassmen on the team, we really try to get them in the cars so we form a close team with all ages. We’re all super close,” said Taber. “There was one game where you could really see that on the field. We were all communicating and passing to each other really well.”
The team has thirteen seniors, but the captains work hard to facilitate friendships between players of all ages. “We have two freshmen on the team, and even the freshmen are friends with the seniors,” said Clark. Introducing the freshman and new players to the team environment and including them in team activities has made the team stronger and closer than ever.
Additionally, the immense talent on the team is also a major factor in maintaining the team’s winning record.
“She would deny it if she was here, but it [the reason the team is succeeding] is Megan [Webb]. She’s very talented,” said Taber.
“On the field, she’s very vocal, and she’ll yell at people but it’s so helpful. We call it on-field Megan. Everyone’s a little scared of her, but it helps. She keeps us motivated because she’s so good” said Clark.
Webb and Nico Cambell ’22 have great on-field chemistry as well. They know where the other is going to be on the field without even saying anything, generating a powerful offense for the team that’s beaten multiple opponents by three or more goals. “They communicate and connect on the field really well,” said Mitchell.
Last year, due to the pandemic, field hockey played 7 vs. 7 on the field instead of the normal 11 vs. 11. This led to many of the players on the team not getting much playing time, especially underclassmen, since seniors were given the majority of the time on the field. The biggest change between 7 vs. 7 and 11 vs. 11 is that with more people on the field, more communication is required to succeed. But, the bonds forged last season have made this easier to adjust to.
“I think this [7 vs. 7 ] helped form greater connections in our grade and the grades below since we were all on the sideline cheering and spent a lot of time together,” said Mitchell.
The team’s goal for the season is to play like they did after their loss every game and be undefeated in the rest of the regular season. The team is currently 7th in the Division 1 power rankings, and sits atop the Bay State Conference Carey Division. They hope to continue their success into the postseason and make it past the second round of the tournament, which the program hasn’t accomplished in a long time.
The team has only lost twice, and their first loss to Natick was, “a test of our team and how we’d react to that, but we bounced back the next day and had a really good practice and a really good next game,” said Mitchell. “The loss helped us build a better team and dealing with that adversity was good for us. We hope to bring that level of play to every game this season.”