By Emily Scheer, Staff Reporter
The girls’ varsity field hockey team claimed the No. 1 spot in the Central League, the No. 13 spot in the country and the PIAA District 1 3A Field Hockey title.
“Those big games — like our last couple of games — was just a wave of relief (to win).” said senior and co-captain Alex Lepore. “It’s just an awesome feeling to win together and celebrate together.”
“They (my teammates) all just kind of pushed me to work really hard. They’re really energetic, and they keep me going,” freshmen Peyton Esposito said. “And I’ll get to practice after a hard day of school, and it gets me motivated to do well in practice.”
Before each game, the team strategized and emphasized achieving specific goals. Lepore said that playing as a team each game led to the girls’ success on the field.
“As a team, our playing strategy usually changes every game depending on the team we’re playing, but usually we just always emphasize to play as a team and connect,” Lepore said. “And sometimes we like to have goals. For example, one of our goals would be to capitalize on our corners more, or have more slip passes, or have more connecting passes in the middle of the field as a team.”
The seniors on the team have never lost a game on Teamer Field. According to seco-captain and senior Emma Nikolic, overcoming the pressure of high school sports and winning is a team effort.
“You have a huge target on your back, and everyone wants to come after you. And they play every game like it’s their state championship, no matter if they’re the last ranked seed or first ranked seed,” Nikolic said.
The team qualified for the PIAA 3A Field Hockey State tournament and made it through the first round. After facing a defeat from Lower Dauphin High School in the quarterfinals, the team officially wrapped up the 2023-24 season.
“I think we had a really successful season overall. We won districts. We were undefeated in our Central League and in districts,” Lepore said. “It was really upsetting how it ended, but I’m just proud of the team and how far we’ve come.”
Emily Scheer can be reached at [email protected].
