The varsity field hockey team made it to the Final 4 this season and had an amazing record of 13 wins and 4 losses. This was the second year in a row that the team made it to the Final 4, the team has been very successful in the past seasons and will continue to grow in the future.
Coach Kevin Kilgore thinks the team had a very great season this year.
“We had some great matches this year that tested our resolve and learned valuable lessons,” Kilgore said.
Senior Amelia Lundgren expressed similar thoughts to Kilgore.
“I think we performed really well. We all improved as players individually and as a team and I think we surpassed the expectations we set for ourselves in the postseason
Sophomore Ava Hubenschmidt’s favorite memory of the season was when the team got to travel to Pittsburgh for games.
I got to spend time with everyone and get closer to everyone. We all had so much fun and got to walk around the University of Pittsburgh together,” Hubenschmidt said.
Junior Summer Angus’s favorite moment was the team’s quarter-final game against Bloomfield Hills.
“It was a really good game, we had possession for most of the time,” Angus said. “We played really well, but we just happened to have a tie for most of the time. Then in the last minute of overtime, we got a stroke (penalty shot) and scored and we all did a dogpile.”
Hubenschmidt feels that the lessons everyone learned this year can be taken into next season, so the team can have an even greater season than this year.
“We were like one big family this year. We communicated and overcame everything thrown at us this season. We played as one this year. We lost as one and we won as one. We need to carry this into next year because when everyone is in sync and playing together, we are at our strongest.” Hubenschmidt said.
Kilgore believes that the team was very good at finding out what its advantages and disadvantages for the team.
“I think one of our strengths this year was the ability to understand what is or is not working and the ability to make adjustments on the field in real-time,” Kilgore said.
Angus and Lundgren expressed their mixed feelings about the season-ending.
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“I’m really sad that the season ended because it was a really fun season. It was probably my favorite season so far. But I’m really pumped and excited for next season.” Angus said.
“It’s bittersweet because it was my senior season and I’ve been playing field hockey since my freshman year, but I’m really happy with the way it ended and I think we all grew closer as a team,” Lundgren said.
Kilgore’s favorite moment from this season was from Lundgren when she scored during Chelsea High School. He mentioned that he thinks it was one of the top 3 goals he’s seen.
“We were in the second half up 1-0 on a very difficult and hard-fought goal. We had an offensive run out of our end of the field up the right side and over the center field stripe. Amelia was advancing up the field on the left side watching the play develop,” Kilgore said. “When she saw that we kept possession of the ball through the midfield she took off like a missile into the offensive circle. Amelia’s teammate saw her run and sent a pass into the circle. As I remember, there seemed to be a split second where the ball, Amelia, and the goalie all arrived at the same place at the same time. Amelia teed up a perfect one-timer, beat the goalie, and deposited the ball in the back of the goal.”
The team had a very successful season with 8 of the 18 players being seniors. Kilogre thought that the seniors this year were a very big part of the team and were some of the best he’d ever seen. Kilgore believes that the seniors had a big influence on the team and were a major factor in the team’s successful season.
“This group of seniors was one of the strongest we have ever had in the history of the program,” Kilgore said.“Helen Harpenau and Arushi Singh captained the varsity team. I would easily put this pairing into the top 3 all-time captains we have ever had. As a matter of fact, this whole graduating class of 8 seniors has been leaders in fitness, encouragement, and unity. It is going to be very difficult to replace all that we have lost.”
