The field hockey team started their 2023-2024 fall season with a 7-0 win against Great Oak with six different scorers in the game. Following the loss of multiple Division 1 players in the last few years, the team is heading into the season focused on building a strong connection between upperclassmen and lowerclassmen .

During pre-season, Head Coach Susan Hodgkins planned a three-day bonding road trip to Disneyland before their first two games. Hodgkins said the road trip helped connect the group to a shared goal and build a strong team identity.

“Spending that kind of quality time together translates into our playing well together on the field,” Hodgkins said. “Two things we discussed on our pre-season road trip were earning our achievements through player responsibility and effort and taking ownership of our story, our identity and our mission. No opponent will ever lay down and let you win. You have to earn it.”

Four freshmen were given spots on the varsity squad, two of whom are starting. Center midfielder Margaux Schlumberger ’27 said the bonding trips the team took in the pre-season made her feel more connected to her teammates and pushed her to want to win. 

“We felt like so much more of a team coming out of the trip,” Schlumberger said. “[In games], I was fighting to win with a team that I cared about with people that I wanted to win with.”

The team will play a majority of their home games on Friday nights before football games. Goalie Lily Stambouli ’24 said she hopes these home games will allow the team to connect with the student body.  

“We’ve all been working so hard, and it would be so amazing to see it all pay off at the championship games in October,” Stambouli said. “It’s also really exciting that we’ll be playing home games on Fridays this year before football, so more people will have the chance to come cheer us on.”

The team faces Marina High School at home Sept. 1.