By Seth Goldman
With several quality players returning from a team that finished third in playoffs a year ago, the girlsâ field hockey team will have high expectations when it opens league play against Edison next thursday. According to Coach Erin Creznic, they aim to win the league championship and advance into the playoff tournament that follows the season.
The team boasts a lineup that features several Division I prospects among its ten returning seniors. Additionally, most of the players have been playing together since seventh grade, which Creznic believes is one of the teamâs biggest strengths. Creznicâs main point of emphasis leading up to the season was team unity, she said.
Because the team has so much individual talent, sometimes the players donât pass as much as they should, she said. The team can best utilize its strengths if the players work together better.
“Our biggest need is just to come together on and off the field,” Stacy Lee â09 said. “We need to work together better and pass more,”
A key aspect of improving on last seasonâs 9-6-3 record will be performing better in Sunset League play, where the team posted a 5-4-1 record last year. The team will face stiff competition from Newport Harbor, who eliminated them from the playoffs last season. In addition, the team plays rival Louisville twice. The team opened its season in the St. Louis Beltway Tournament this past weekend against 40 of the top teams in the country.
Though confident in her teamâs ability, Creznic said she is slightly worried about the tendency for the players to sustain injuries. Still, she remains confident about the season.
“I think we have a great chance to win league and go to the playoffs,” she said.