After an untimely exit from tournament play last fall, the Bishop Fenwick field hockey team is aiming to come back in 2020 with a reloaded roster and make a run at a Catholic Central League title.
Last year’s Crusaders team was primed for a big run through the Division 2 North tournament after losing just two games all season, but Fenwick ran into a buzzsaw in the form of Pentucket’s sophomore goalkeeper and got knocked out of the tournament in the quarterfinal.
“We had a great team last year with an incredible group of seniors, so we were obviously disappointed with how the season ended,” said Fenwick head coach Marybeth Mahoney, now in her 15th season with the Crusaders. “We started the year strong and worked hard the whole way, but we ran into trouble against a great team and a great player.”
Fenwick lost a number of seniors to graduation after last season, including senior captains Cailyn Wesley, Stephanie Steriti and Katherine Clancy. Add in other losses such as Kristina Rusha and Katie Keenan, and the Crusaders are now left with several holes to fill.
“Those girls were all such critical pieces of the team,” Mahoney said of his seniors. “Cailyn was our leading scorer and Stephanie was our defender on the back line, and those are tough pieces to replace.”
But there’s a strong core returning for Fenwick this season, led by its three team captains in senior goalkeeper Cat Elias, senior midfielder Paige Littlehale and junior forward Grace Morey — last year’s second-leading scorer. In addition to the return of the upperclassmen, the Crusaders will also have a host of younger talent on the roster this season.
“The group we have coming back has some experience from last year, and it all starts with Cat in net and Grace up front,” said Mahoney. “Having someone who can defend the net and then another person who can score for you is a real key, especially this season.”
As for how things have been going in practice, Mahoney has been focusing on getting her team into peak physical condition to deal with the fact that there will be three less players on the field for her team at any given time because of the latest safety modifications. But the new 7-on-7 setup will also force players to take on more on-field responsibilities than they’re used to, and Mahoney is working on making sure her team is prepared in that sense as well.
“There is going to be a ton of space on the field with the new 7-on-7 rule, so conditioning is going to play a big factor,” said Mahoney. “Also, our girls are going to have to play more than one position out there and play both offense and defense. Many of these girls aren’t used to taking on that much responsibility because there are usually other players around them, but this year we’re going to need everyone to contribute in multiple ways.”
The Crusaders will open up the season on Saturday afternoon (12) against Bishop Stang at home at Donaldson Field.
“We’re beyond excited to just get back out on the field and start playing again,” said Mahoney. “Even though there isn’t any state tournament to shoot for this year, we’re still going to be battling it out for a CCL title and we’re excited for the opportunity to do that.”
