The Bishop Brady field hockey team lost just one starter from last year’s team that went 16-2 and won the first title in program history. The Giants return a total of 16 varsity players from that team, including 2019 First Team Division III picks Libbey Hicks and Ashlyn Toupin, as they prepare for Friday’s season opener at Conant.
Most coaches would love to have a loaded, defending-champion team, and most of them would also worry about overconfidence or a lack of challenges for that team. Kelly Owen, who is starting her 27th season as Brady’s head coach, will only have to point to this season’s unusual coronavirus cohort schedule to make sure her team doesn’t get complacent.
With schools trying to keep teams local to help minimize virus spread, location has taken precedence over division alignment, which is based on school size and usually predicts talent level. For the field hockey Giants, that means they get eight chances to challenge themselves against local D-II teams with home-and-home series against Merrimack Valley (Sept. 22 and 25), Pembroke Academy (Sept. 29, Oct. 2), Bow (Oct. 6 and 9) and John Stark (Oct. 13 and 16).
Bishop Brady played field hockey in D-II until 2013, so Owen knows all about that division. She also knows this team can figure out how to win against bigger schools and she’s looking forward to watching that learning curve.
“I told the team that my goal for them is to see what their next step is,” Owen said. “We have eight seniors and we took a step when they were sophomores, we took a step last year when they were juniors, so what’s the step now?
“We were in Division II for so many years, so I told the kids, I played against the MVs, the John Starks, the Bows, I know what that looks like, and I’m excited for them to take that next step.”
There were a few difficult moments during the first days of practice as the team adapted to the new COVID safety guidelines, but Owen said everyone is following the rules and that after a few days, “it started to feel like what practice should feel like.” She was worried there might be some grumbling when she told the team they may have to wear masks while stretching and warming up at some away games, but that wasn’t the case.
“They were like, ‘Once we get it on we’re used to it, so no big deal.’ And I thought that was huge for them to react like that,” Owen said.
Toupin led the team in scoring last year with 19 goals, was the Monitor Field Hockey Player of the Season and has verbally committed to playing collegiately at D-I Merrimack College. Hicks was second on the team with 16 goals, including a penalty stroke score for a 1-0 win in the final against defending champ Mascoma. Rebecca Murphy and Halle Laramie each had 12 goals for the Giants in 2019, including the overtime game-winner off Laramie’s stick to end a 3-2 semifinal win against Newfound, and both of them return this year,
Brady also brings back defender Kat Weed (a Second Team D-III pick last year), goalie Julie Blais (seven saves in the championship game) and Riley Marsh (junior captain in 2019). As if that’s not enough, there are three more starters returning from last year’s title team – forward Jillian Weaver and defenders Samantha Weir and Michaella Savery.
While Brady took the title, Hopkinton was the top D-III team in the regular season at 13-1. The Hawks beat No. 8 Mascenic, 3-1, in the quarterfinals before falling to Mascoma, 2-0, in the semifinals.
Hopkinton returns five starters from last year’s team – Kate Bouchard (2019 First Team D-III selection), Meggie Haley, Caroline Barrett, Julia Baer and Madeleine Maughan. Kate Hohenberger, now in her second year as Hopkinton’s head coach after several years as an assistant, is also excited about the program’s new varsity players like Hadley Cook, Steph Elrick, Grace Hall, Hannah Hoyt, Charlotte Presti and Isabella Upton.
“We are so thankful to have a season this year,” Hohenberger said. “We are excited to pick up where we left off and have a strong season.”
The Concord High field hockey team reached the D-I title game for the first time in 15 years in 2019. The Crimson Tide did lose four seniors from that group, which finished 12-5 after losing 2-0 to Windham in the final, including D-I First team picks Ella Doherty and Sam Ossoff. But Concord does return seven starters from last year – junior goalie Rhyden Wheldon (a D-I Second Team pick last year), senior captain midfielder Maria Armaganian, senior captain midfielder/forward Alice Rosenberg, sophomore forward Emma Beaujouan, senior defender Grace Leonard, junior forward Kait McKinnon and junior midfielder Andie Reed.
“It’s a coachable group and we have a large roster with similar skill level among the players, so they should challenge each other for spots in the starting lineup all year,” said Andy Briers, who is starting his third season as the Tide’s head coach.
After finishing the 2019 regular season 9-5 and earning the No. 5 seed in the D-II tournament, the Merrimack Valley field hockey team beat No. 11 Kingswood, 2-0, in the first round of the playoffs. The Pride then traveled to North Conway where it upset No. 3 Kennett, 1-0, before falling to eventual champion Hanover in the semifinals, 4-0.
Jen Colgan, now in her third year as MV’s head coach, was named the D-II Coach of the Year in 2019. Three Pride players earned all-division honors last year, including forward Reilly Swislosky, who is one of MV’s seven returning starters along with senior midfielder Taylor Bailey, junior defender Sadie Barton, sophomore midfielder Abby Forbes, senior midfielder Caitlyn Fortier, senior goalie Rosemary Ostrowski and senior forward Alexa Prewitt.
“We are coming into this season with veteran forward and midfield lines and a young defense,” Colgan said. “Our focus is to play smart and aggressive field hockey while capitalizing on the opportunities we create for ourselves.”
John Stark qualified for the field hockey playoffs for the last two seasons, the first time in program history the Generals have made back-to-back postseason appearances. There are 13 players returning from the 2019 team, including nine starters – junior forward Gracie Bolduc (a Second Team D-II pick last year), senior forward Delaney Forrestall, senior midfielder Meg Girardet, senior forward Kacie Weston, sophomore defender Jackie O’Donnell, sophomore midfielder Aubrey Fischer, junior defender Linsey Hagman, senior goalie Sydnee Pelletier and senior defender Olivia Dame.
“John Stark is poised to take the next big step in the process and should be moving into contender status in 2020,” said Dennis Pelletier, now in his fourth season as Stark’s head coach.
Steve Langevin will be taking over as the Pembroke field hockey coach this season after the Spartans went 0-14 last year. Leah LaCross, Sophia Brasley, Aleesha Jordan and Rachel Clark all got lots of varsity time as starters last season and they will put that experience to work this year next to a promising group of newcomers.
“The girls have been very upbeat and working hard,” Langevin said. “We have a challenging schedule, but will be trying to compete with those teams and see what happens. We don’t want to make it easy for them. To be honest we are just excited to be playing.”
Cherie Snow will be taking over the field hockey program at Bow. Snow was an assistant last year for the Falcons and has tons of coaching experience. Bow went 5-9-1 last season and lost in the first round of the D-II playoffs.