By Lux Sheplee, Staff Writer
While many students at River Hill enjoyed a summer far away from the building, the varsity field hockey team, along with other sports, was back in the beginning of August. This year’s team looks a lot different than last, as they lost many key players with seniors leaving, including two that now play for Division I schools: Maddie Vasilios and Puja Nanjappa. Although they lost at states last year, the team had a successful season and look to do similar things this year.
Ava Foss, who has been playing field hockey since her freshman year, looks forward to her senior season and her last year as a Hawk. Regarding the game, Ava explains, “I’m most excited to play Marriotts Ridge because we both lost a lot of our seniors.” Both teams are sure to look different than last year, so it should be interesting to see how the new adjustments face off.
She goes on to describe, “The best part of being on the team is team bonding; we are all really good friends and honestly more of a friend group than a team.” Along with Ava, sophomore Annie Levine agrees that the best part of the team is “the camaraderie between the girls and the friendships we build.”
Annie is the main goal keeper this year, and she has only been playing field hockey for one year. She is eager for the start of her second year, commenting, “as a team, I hope we can work together to fill the gaps that were left by 2023 seniors to come back even stronger!” Annie looks forward to improving personally as well as improving as a team, explaining, “I hope to improve my angles and footwork in the cage.”
Unlike Annie, senior Megan Iacobellis has spent several years playing field hockey: “I have been playing field hockey for five or six years. I spent a few years on rec before high school, and in high school I played my freshman year on JV and the rest on varsity.” Megan has lots of experience with the sport, and is eager to mesh new players into the team. She comments, “we started with a really good foundation and there’s so much for us to get better at.”
Megan’s feelings about the team reflect both Ava’s and Annie’s as she explains, “my favorite part about being on the team is that field hockey has a really strong bond. Our team chemistry is unlike any other team I’ve been on at River Hill.”
Fall sports began their games the past few weeks, and the varsity field hockey team is enthusiastic about their season. While the team misses their seniors from last year, the new players on the team provide new opportunities. They beat Centennial this past Monday 2-1, and have had a strong start thus far. Make an effort to go out to one of the field hockey games, cheer on your classmates and help them on their road to the state championships!