Moxie Defeats Andover For the First Time in Four Years

Exeter’s field hockey team faced lots of ups and downs throughout the season, but the athletes ended on high: the defeat of Andover. Their girls finished with a record of 9-7-1, and although it was a winning season, it was not an improvement over the 2012's record of 9-5-3. Still, the win against Big Blue was a big success for the girls, who had tied or lost to Andover for the past four years.

"The most satisfying game this season was the Andover game, especially since we were also a bit of an underdog going into it,” senior Katy Kinnon said. “I had never beaten Andover in field hockey so it felt great to end my career with a win. Also in the past E/As, the game has either ended in a tie or a win by Andover, so this is the first time in a while we beat them." For all the athletes, and especially the four-year seniors on Moxie, it was a game to remember.

Senior Charlotte Haslett, who has been on Moxie since her lower year, noted the team’s overwhelming excitement over their win against Andover. 

"Basically because we won, we didn't really care that football lost, that's how happy we were."

At the beginning of the season, a lot of things were new for the varsity field hockey team. The team not only had a new head coach, Samantha Carr, but several younger players filled the team’s roster. 

Nonetheless, many of the new members to the team proved vital to its success. Carly Perreault, a new upper, proved to be a very valuable player, and she and upper Marley Jenkins will be co-captains next year.

Coach Carr ended up being a catalyst for the team's success. 

“Coach Carr was extremely knowledgeable and really helped us improve our game individually and as a whole," upper Kimberly Dawes said. She worked the team very hard and kept their bodies and minds in shape through tireless drills each day at practice.

"Coach Carr is really good at coaching,” Haslett said. “She isn't always the nicest person, but she definitely knows how to teach you what to do, which is really helpful. Because of her and the intensity she brought, we definitely came together as a team; we finally realized that it was our job to take on the success of the team."

Carr was exactly the kind of coach Moxie needed to get into shape and get the motivation to play the best they can, although her great coaching wasn't enough, sometimes, during the games to get the girls to finish with a win. 

All the girls on Moxie unanimously agree that they had a great the season, all the girls were very close and believe that their record doesn’t accurately reflect the hard work and heart they put into their play.

"I think our playing was not represented by the score sometimes,” Dawes said. “Sometimes we just couldn't finish, we would play really well but the score wouldn't reflect it."

"This year, I think our record doesn't reflect how strong our team was," Haslett agreed.  

"We had a really strong team, we just didn't always play as well in games. We wouldn't always get to the point in games where everything would click and we would play really well together. Or we would get there and lose it quickly."

"Although we didn't have a really impressive season, I think we all felt as though as we worked really hard and played together well and that's all that really matters," lower Noa Siegel said. "So to me, the season went really well, we were a really close team and everyone loved being a part of it."

Haslett agreed that Moxie was closer than ever. 

"We were pretty close, a lot of people cried before E/A. We went to that room underneath the bleachers to bond, and some people cried that the season was over," she said. 

"There was definitely a pretty big sense of gratitude towards the team for helping people find a place on campus."

Next year will likely be a building year for Moxie, with a loss of eight seniors. Almost the entire starting line up this year consisted of seniors, but the new captains, rising seniors Marley Jenkins and Perrault, are determined to make next year just as good, if not better, than this year.

"I think they'll be great captains," Haslett said. "Marley was already basically a captain, because of how she led the team and how good of an example she is, and I don't think it'll be hard for Carly to step into that position."

Still, even with a solid set of captains for next year, it will be tough for Moxie to make up for the loss of most of their key, starting players.

Haslett said, "I think they're going to have a lot of work to do, but I think they can do it, they'll be fine."

"The team will be pretty good, but probably not as great as this year,” Siegel, who will still be on the team next year, said. 

“Hopefully we'll get some really good new preps because we're losing a lot of starters. Also I know that there are a few really good JV players who could've been on varsity this year who will move up."

"The seniors this year were all really talented and were a huge contribution to many of our wins, those who are not graduating are all amazing players and I have faith in them, especially with the two captains for next years team,” Kinnon said. 

“Marley and Carly are great leaders and athletes, so I think next year's team will be successful." ​