LYNNFIELD — With a new coach in former Lynnfield High and Boston College standout Kerri Doherty, this year’s field hockey team definitely has a new look.
Senior captains Lauren MacDonald, a goalie, midfielder Gia Marotta and forward Taylor Valiton are confident the Pioneers are built for success.
“We graduated a lot of seniors, so this year, we have a lot of younger people on this team who have been working really hard at captains’ practices and summer league, so I think we are ready,” Valiton said after the Pioneers’ scrimmage against Wakefield Thursday. “We are getting better with every practice and scrimmage.”
“I feel like last year, we were a really good team, but this year, everyone wants it more,” Marotta said. “Everyone wants to work so much harder because we want to be up there this year.”
MacDonald said Doherty is a huge hit with the team.
“It’s definitely different and we miss Coach “P” (Samantha Pindara, who is now coaching at Manchester-Essex), but we all love Kerri so much,” MacDonald said. “She has so much experience and was really good at BC, so we are all just really excited to have her and we all want it badly, especially after last year. We’re that much more hungry for it.”
MacDonald is in her second year as a starting goalie, while Valiton and Marotta were Cape Ann League First Team All-Stars last fall. Doherty said the trio will play key roles again this year.
“Lauren did a great job last year, so I am thrilled to have her back again this year,” Doherty said. “She’s had a great preseason and I feel that, after a year between the pipes, she has definitely stepped it up this preseason, especially communicating with the defense and working on maintaining her voice.”
Doherty said that during the preseason, Valiton has shown her ability to score.
“She’s scored a lot of goals this preseason. I think she has fine-tuned her game over the summer and I am looking for her to be a huge offensive threat this season. She has phenomenal strong-side shooting and also on the reverse. So, she is very deceptive and I am looking for a lot of goals from her.”
Marotta, Doherty said, is playing a “big” position at center midfielder.
“She has the poise to possess the ball and she is a workhorse, which is what you need in the midfield,” Doherty said. “Your center mid is going against the other team’s best player. So far, she has shown me, fitness-wise, she can keep up with the best of the best.”
Other seniors Doherty is looking to this year include midfielder Libby Considine and defender Chloe Gromko, a transfer-student.
“Libby and Choe have had an excellent preseason,” Doherty said. “Libby, working off-ball with Gia, has been excellent, especially since she is in a new position at right midfielder.”
Promising newcomers include freshman Sophia Morgese, who has earned the starting position at right wing.
“She had a great summer working out with the team. She’s fast and has excellent stick skills,” Doherty said.
Sophomore Lauren Mattia returns as starting left midfielder.
“She, too, had a great summer with her club team playing a lot of national tournaments,” Doherty said.
Last year, the Pioneers dropped to the No. 10 seed in the Division 4 state tournament after being forced to forfeit two games due to a scheduling snafu, resulting in a 10-7-2 seeding record.
The Pioneers’ season came to a disappointing end in the round-of -6 with a 2-1 overtime loss to No. 7 Hopedale.
Doherty said the key to any season is “coming every day and having fun, and the rest will just happen.” She believes the team, as a whole, came into the preseason physically fit.
“As a coach, you gauge where they are fitness-wise, but even from day one, our mile times are outstanding and I am very happy about that,” Doherty said. “They have put in the effort and commitment over the summer. They want it this season. What happened last year has made them hungrier this season. We beat Masco, 4-2, in a scrimmage and we dominated in our Wakefield scrimmage. If they continue to put the work in, they’ll continue to do well.”
The Pioneers open the season at Triton on Wednesday.
“Triton didn’t graduate a single person, so with their entire team coming back, it will be a challenge,” Doherty said.
