Photos by Charlie Leffler
Above: Atlee’s Zoe Altholz returns as the reigning Capital District Player of the Year and will be a key component in the Raiders bid to keep Lee-Davis from their fourth consecutive regular season title. Below from left: Lee-Davis’ seniors Ashley Reynolds, Haley Matthews and Linnea Taylor will play important roles with this year’s experienced C-fed squad. Below right: Hanover junior Nicole Shelton returns as one of the Hawks’ top players in a team that grew by leaps and bounds last season. Bottom: Patrick Henry senior Allyse Harris is one of the few players returning to this year’s Patriot team.
Published: August 25, 2009
By Charlie Leffler .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
For local sports fans that love to see a tight and highly competitive race to the finish, this could be the year to keep a close eye on the Capital District field hockey season. By the narrowest of margins, Lee-Davis goes into the year as the league favorite, but close on their heels is an Atlee squad that is hungry for its first regular season championship. Yet neither of those teams can overlook the young Hanover squad that grew by leaps and bounds last year and is now a serious threat to reach the regionals for the first time.
“All three of us have strong teams, girls that are athletic and talented,” said Lee-Davis head coach Courtney Jones. “I think it’s going to set up some good competition and some good games.”
Hanover head coach Sarah Bottorff concurs. “It’s really anybody’s district as long as everybody stays healthy,” she said. “It’s just who plays smart and who capitalizes on mistakes that the other team makes. That’s always how it is.”
LEE-DAVIS
The Confederates will mark a milestone at the end of this season when the group of players that set the foundation for the Lee-Davis field hockey program four years ago close out their careers. But before that group of 11 seniors leave, they would like to set the mark high for the players that follow them.
Last season the C-feds won the school’s first ever regional game before losing in the semi-finals to Maggie Walker. With a solid returning roster, this could be the year that Lee-Davis goes further and reaches the state tournament for the first time. “We have high expectations,” said head coach Courtney Jones.
No one will accuse Lee-Davis of lacking in experience. Their starting lineup will include all 11 seniors; Jamie Ebert, Ashley Reynolds, Kelsey Reynolds, Haley Matthews, Olivia Davis, Linsey Snead, Haley Hartley, Linnea Taylor and Sarah Clare; a group that has won the Capital District regular season title each of their three years with the C-feds. They would like to finish their careers with a clean sweep.
Yet, with so much senior talent, Jones greatest challenge this season is winning games while also getting experience for her younger players as preparation for next year. “I have to look ahead to future seasons as far as building a team; knowing I’m graduating an entire team in November,” she said. Therefore, some of the senior starters’ roles have yet to be set. “Even though some of the girls have set positions and are returning starters, I’ve got to build up the younger girls so that they’ll be ready to lead us in future seasons.”
Three players that are set in their positions are Taylor, Ebert and Matthews. The trio of team captains should contend for district Player of the Year honors.
Also secure is Clare who will take over for the outstanding Janie Evans at keeper. However, Jones expects no fall off in abilities guarding the goal. “Sarah Clare’s been right there with Janie from the beginning,” she said.
With so many players who have been together so long communication is not a problem. Jones said the key to the season rides with the team stepping it up on the field. “These girls have been together for so long that they mesh well as a team,” she said. “Now it’s just taking their hockey to the next level.”
ATLEE
Like Lee-Davis, Atlee returns an abundance of talent. This season, 10 Raider starters are back from last year’s squad that finished second in the district and gave the C-feds a run for their money.
This year Atlee wants to go one step further by not only taking the regular season crown from Lee-Davis but making it past the opening round of regionals for the first time. “The goal for this season is getting to that second round of regionals,” said head coach Alyssa Farling. “We’ve made it to regionals we want to get past that first game.”
The Raiders have all of the components necessary to reach that goal, first and foremost is returning Capital District Player of the Year Zoe Altholz who is the favorite to repeat as title winner this season.
Altholz will be joined by Loren Dove as this year’s team captains.
Farling also expects big years from seniors Laura Beckler, Lizzie Leitch and Jamie McKay as well as junior Sonja Anderson.
At keeper, Farling is excited about the play of junior Annie Lassiter who will take over for Liz Harris in the goal. On the JV squad last season Lassiter displayed exceptional talent and Farling expects her to carry that over to the varsity squad this season.
Also, like Lee-Davis, this season will be a balance between utilizing experienced players while making sure the team is not completely devastated by their loss next year.
While Atlee has the talent to take the district title from Lee-Davis this season, Farling said their greatest obstacle could be themselves. Because the Confederates have dominated the district for so long, Farling said her players need to understand that they capable of winning the district. They only have to believe that they can.
HANOVER
Last year Hanover served notice to the rest of the Capital District that they are no longer the young team that will be pushed around. Doubling their win total from the previous season, Hanover knocked off both Lee-Davis and Atlee during the regular season. “We really made a showing in our district,” said head coach Sarah Bottorff. “I think we really stirred things up that they weren’t expecting to be stirred up. I’m hoping we’re going to do a lot of that again this year.”
Though the Hawks lost nine starters from last year’s team, they bring back two of their best players in junior midfielder Nicole Shelton and senior Morgan Kaye, who along with senior Bethany Crawford will also serve as team captains.
While this year the Hawks will be a threat to upset either of the favorites again, next season could be the real breakout for Hanover. Bottorff brought up a strong group of players from last year’s JV squad and she only loses four seniors at the end of this season.
On the field, Kaye will make the shift from defense to offense this year and play out top at the forward slot. And Bottorff expects a much better offense this year. “Look for us to score a lot more goals,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of players from JV that had four or five goals each.
The biggest question mark for Hanover will probably rest in the goal where junior LeeAnne Kesler will step into the net. Though Kesler played on JV last season, she did not play goal, but Bottorff is pleased with what she has seen so far from her new keeper.
Hanover’s key to success this year rests on playing smart and staying healthy. “Out strength, as a team, has always been our fitness and playing smart,” Bottorff said.
PATRICK HENRY
Some teams reload. Some teams rebuild. Then there is Patrick Henry.
When it comes to this season, perhaps rebuilding the national economy would be an easier task than that which is faced by Patriots head coach Pattiann Beach. Patrick Henry comes into the year having lost 11 players to graduation and two others did not return to this year’s squad.
Therefore Lee-Davis and Atlee will probably keep a close eye on how the Patriots’ season progresses because they will be in a similar situation next year.
To fill the substantial void on her varsity squad, Beach will bring up a lot of players from the JV team. And she pointed out that though the players are enthusiastic and energetic about field hockey, they have yet to develop the mentality that is necessary to become a consistent winner. “They’re all just new,” she said.
However, Beach is not discouraged because this season’s trials should pay dividends in the near future. “I have maybe seven juniors and maybe nine sophomores, some on varsity, some on JV,” she said. “So the next couple of years we should be doing very well actually.”
Three players that Beach will rely on this season, not only for their stick work and sense of the field but their leadership abilities will be seniors Allyse Harris, Cameron Conklin and Sarah Stack.
In goal will be junior Georgia Osborne “She’s got great reaction and a great sense of the game,” Beach said. “(She) knows where the ball is going and does a great job of getting there.”
But Beach is probably most excited about the potential of freshman Madi Mano. “She’s got a knowledge about where to go when the game’s being played,” Beach said. “She’s going to be incredible.”
In such a rebuilding year, Beach’s greatest challenge will be keeping her young players from becoming discouraged, especially in the strong Colonial District.
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