JV Field Hockey Remain Undefeated After NMH
With a 2-0 win against Northfield Mount Hermon School (NMH) last Saturday, Exeter’s JV field hockey team added yet another victory to its undefeated record this season. The team now has a total of eight wins and two ties, and is currently the Academy’s only undefeated girls’ team.
While the team came out on top in its game against NMH, many felt that it was their hardest match of the season. Describing it as “a rough game for a lot of players,” upper and co-captain Vivienne Kraus said that she and her teammates “were playing sloppier than was ideal.” Nevertheless, the team still managed to “go hard” and control the ball for the majority of the game, according to Kraus.
The strength of the team’s defense has proven crucial to their success. With only four goals scored against them so far, the strong line of defense has been “the key to our good season,” lower Camilla Pelliccia said. The girls have won game after game without giving up a single point, which is a direct result of the defense knowing “exactly what to do and where to be,” upper Ellie Locke explained. In particular, she praised Kraus, a center back, who “does a great job guiding the defense’s positioning on the field.” For Kraus, the team’s ability to win games without a single goal against them is a sign that the defense is working hard to keep the ball out and, of course, that “our lovely goalie Ellie Locke is making saves.”
Upper and co-captain Victoria Glidden also pointed out that the team’s defense can be counted on to pass the ball up to the forwards, who then “work really hard in the circle by staying on the posts, goalie and stroke.” Locke agreed, remarking that the forward line has done an “incredible job” scoring. “We scored 9 goals during our first game of the year, which is outrageous,” she said.
Though this is certainly a testament to the raw talent of the girls, much of their success has come from their unrelenting work ethic and high energy throughout the season. “We all work really hard in practice and get really fired up before the games,” lower Gracie Goodwin explained. For her, the best part about the team is “knowing when we really need to leave it all out on the field.”
Both Goodwin and Glidden emphasized that part of this motivation arises from the continual support and encouragement from their coach, Sydnee Goddard. “She pushes us really hard with things like sprints and two-mile warm up runs that build up our endurance, which is one thing that really separates us from a lot of other teams,” Glidden explained.
“We went into that game with a lot of energy, probably the most of any game thus far, and it really paid off.”
Kraus agreed, observing that Goddard challenges every player to improve, regardless of the skill level with which they came into the season. “Honestly our season has been this good because of our amazing coach,” Glidden said.
This hard work has paid off all season, but especially so in the girls’ game against Deerfield Academy three weeks ago. “We went into that game with a lot of energy, probably the most of any game thus far, and it really paid off,” Locke said. Deerfield was an important game for the team because, before last year, Exeter had not beat them in 25 years. “We knew that we needed to beat them and keep the streak from last year going,” Goodwin added.
Given their unbroken winning streak, the girls are in a strong position for the rest of the season, as long as they continue to play with focus and energy. “We’re so used to winning that we’ve lost a bit of excitement on the field, so it’s vital we work to bring that back,” Locke said.
Going forward, the team plans to work on their ability to switch positions seamlessly and effectively, as well as their attitude and teamwork. “We can’t just be complacent with where we are, even though we’re winning,” Kraus pointed out. “Every girl on the team has worked to keep us in our undefeated season, and we all want it to continue.”