Rutland Herald Fall Sports Guide 2018 9
HIGH SCHOOL FIELD HOCKEY PREVIEW
Rutland could be set to make noise
W
By CHUCK CLARINO
CORRESPONDENT
ith quality players among nine
returning seniors, Rutland
could be ready to make some
noise this year in Division I field hockey.
County rival Otter Valley packed some
depth into a perennially strong pro-
gram, Springfield continues to rebuild,
and Fair Haven returns a solid core of
more than a dozen players, most of them
juniors.
Below are thumbnail sketches of those
Marble Valley League teams as they pre-
pare for the 2018 season.
Rutland
It’s been 23 years since Rutland has
taken home a field hockey champi-
onship, winning the Division I crown
in 1995 with a 3-2 overtime win over
Middlebury. But this could be the year
when the Raiders bring the title back to
Rutland.
Karen Poljacik will field a strong and
deep team of 24 players after making a
challenging set of cuts earlier this week.
The team is bolstered by nine quick and
skilled returning seniors, and has the
aggressive look of a winner.
“It’s hard to tell every year (where we
will finish) but what we all want to see
is a lot of success,” Poljacik said. “One
thing I’ve noticed about this group is
that their skill level is a little bit higher
and they are pretty competitive, which
will go a long way.”
Poljacik and her staff are focusing on
two distinct areas: the defense, including
breaking in a new goalie, and building
a consistent offense. Both can be com-
plementary situations — if you score a
lot of goals, you take the pressure off the
defense, while a strong defense will feed
a successful offense.
ROBERT LAYMAN / STAFF PHOTO
Otter Valley’s field hockey team practices Wednesday August 22, 2018.
A key returning senior is Francie Et-
tori, whom Poljacik calls, “the captain
in the midfield area.” Blessed with great
stick work, Ettori sees the field and sets
the offense in motion.
Ella Beraldi is another ultra-quick
player who will anchor the forward line
from her inner position, while Alexa
McPhee returns to buttress the defense
and keep the pressure off sophomore
goalie Jessica Ebbinhausen, who moves
up from the JVs.
Juniors Stephanie Allen and Haley
Lassen will start in the midfield and both
are strong defensive players, while two
sophomores, Jenna Sunderland and
Alexis Patterson, and junior Katie Sun-
derland join Beraldi to form a fast and
aggressive forward line.
“As far as scoring goes, everybody
has good games and bad games, but
consistency is something I want to focus
on and build on,” Poljacik said. “On the
other side, with a new goalie and full-
backs, I want to protect her (Ebbighau-
sen) until she gets feet underneath her.
Sc oring is a focus for sure, but I look to
the backfield to step it up.”
With 24 players, some will swing back
and forth from varsity to JV, allowing Pol-
jacik to have backups for every position
and the ability to keep fresh legs on the
field to maintain pace.
“I’m excited and the girls are looking
forward to getting it going,” Poljacik
said. “It’s hard to keep the energy up
without games, but once the season
starts the girls take off.”
Springfield
The Springfield field hockey team fin-
ished its last double session Wednesday.
Two years removed from a state cham-
pionship, the team is young and still in
rebuilding mode under co-coaches Kelly
DeAngelis and Lyndsie Perkins.
But the team, which consisted mostly
of freshmen with a mere handful of
upperclassmen in 2017, went through a
baptism under fire, and that is not a bad
thing, according to DeAngelis.
“Mostly we were just trying to get our
feet under us,” DeAngelis said. “But this
year has started out optimistically. We
have one senior captain and two juniors
who are invested, so the transition ap-
pears seamless. We have grown close and
hit the ground running.”
Senior Paige Congdon served as a
captain last year as well and is support-
ed by two juniors, Chloe Husser and
Lucy Coutermarsh. Husser is a for-
ward, Congdon a midfielder/halfback
and Coutermarsh a defender, so there
is veteran strength from front to back.
Then there is the 10-member
sophomore contingent: Reilly Tennis,
Chloe Jerman, Skyler Congdon, Jor-
dan Noyes, Josie Protas, Anna Church,
Natalia Dorcely, Hannah Presch, Kae-
lie Peoples and Makaila Dorcely. Last
year was a learning experience but
this fall, DeAngelis believes her young
players are catching their stride.
“They progressed in basic things,
and I can see each as a particular
athlete they are going to be,” she said.
“There is self confidence and I hope
it continues to build as the games
progress.”
The down side is that there are
only 13 players at this point, so the
subs are limited and conditioning is
paramount. “They will have to get in
a mindset of playing a whole game,”
DeAngelis said.
Still, DeAngelis sees promise. With
Bellows Falls moving out of the di-
vision, depending on who returns
for the other teams in the division
and how the Cosmos fare condition-
ing-wise, she believes her club has a
“solid chance” to be competitive.
Continued on Page 15