Saying Farewell To Field Hockey

           This year Toll Gate High School’s Field Hockey team has faced some difficulties that would hold most other teams from winning any games. But, despite all the difficulties, our team made it to the playoffs. From losing last year’s senior players to numerous injuries throughout the season, the Lady Titans always seem to find a way to overcome adversity. All of the seniors; Alina Jencks, Ciara Hernandez, Coco Collette, Samantha Quinn, Allison Quinn, Katherine Motta, Julia Krause, and Lily Dewar, took these obstacles as a reason to step up and become better leaders. With the help of their seniors, the underclassmen seemed to follow quickly in response, developing skill and grit throughout the season. Our goalie Abigail O’Connor finished her first year strong, making numerous saves and becoming a crucial part of our team through her determination. But, a team can’t rely on just a goalie for defense, our center fullback, Amanda Preston, stated, “I’m glad that we worked together and ended up pulling a couple of wins, it was a tough loss in the playoffs but there was nothing more we could do about it… it will be hard without our seniors” She paid a lot of homage to our coach, Mr. James Areson, “I am a huge fan of Areson’s coaching, he always has valid points when he’s yelling at me, he’s a great coach,” and our assistant coach Mr. Sean McNamara, “(he) is the good cop to Areson’s bad cop, and my favorite human ever. He motivates us.” She was forced to pull through after our forward, Julia Krause, faced a hand injury that took her away for the rest of her season. If there is one thing to take away from this season, these girls learned grit and strength of character just from playing as hard as they could this season. As much as I will regret leaving this team behind, I can be assured knowing they will prevail with their strong underclassmen.