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09/25/2017 12:00 AMThe Westbrook field hockey team features a young group of athletes who are looking to continue the program’s run of success after the Knights won 19 games, the Shoreline Conference title, and earned a share of the Class S state title in 2016. This year, Westbrook has to find its way without the program’s single-season record holder for goals, Alexa Mulvihill, who graduated alongside several other key players from last year’s run. Thus far this season, the Knights own a record of 1-1-3 after recently losing to North Branford and playing to a 0-0 tie against Morgan.
On Sept. 20, Westbrook hosted North Branford and took a 5-0 defeat. The Thunderbirds scored twice in the first half and three times in the second half, but Westbrook Head Coach Janet Dickey thought that her team played better after intermission.
“We adjusted at halftime a little bit. We weren’t going hard enough to ball in the first half. We played more aggressively,” said Dickey. “We got three attack corners for ourselves. If we executed our penalty corners, it could have been a 3-3 game. We cleaned a lot up in that second half and limited a lot of shots on [senior captain goalkeeper Lauren Wright].”
Wright made 16 saves in the cage for Westbrook. This season marks Wright’s second as the Knights’ goalie, and she’s their lone senior. Last year, Wright came up huge in the playoffs and was named the Most Valuable Player of the Class S state final when Westbrook and Haddam-Killingworth battled to a 1-1 draw. Coach Dickey believes her senior captain is the best athlete on the team and likes how she leads with her words, as well as her actions on the field.
“Lauren is the most vocal, and she should be, because she’s the senior,” said Dickey. “She was the MVP of our state final game last year. This is her second season in goal. She’s just a great athlete...You have to put your best athlete in that net.”
On Sept. 22, Westbrook faced off against Morgan, and the game ended in a 0-0 tie. Even though the Knights didn’t come away with the win, Coach Dickey thought they pursued the ball more aggressively and created more offensive chances, just like in the second half against North Branford. On the flipside, Westbrook’s defensive backfield featuring juniors Alana Bochanis and Jamie Merola, plus freshman Bailey Roberts, was able to limit Morgan’s attack and prevent the Huskies from getting shot on goal. Unfortunately for Westbrook, its offense couldn’t convert on its six shots on net. One of the Knights’ best chances came when sophomore Alex Young took a shot that rang off the post.
“I was very pleased to see the adjustments. Now, we have to see the finish in the attack circle,” said Coach Dickey. “We had 16 penalty corners, and we got shots off. We just didn’t score on them. So we have to go back to the drawing board.”
Westbrook is looking to pick up its goal scoring as this season goes on, and Dickey wants to see some people assert themselves on offense that now that Mulvihill is gone.
“The younger kids were looking to her last year, and they have to figure out which of them are going to step up and get it done now,” Dickey said. “These kids have never had that pressure on them to say they have to get it on net right now, because Alexa always took care of it.”
Even though the goals haven’t been there, the opportunities have, and that’s encouraging to Coach Dickey. She thinks the Knights need make small adjustments in order to score goals more consistently. Dickey adds that there are some players making strides on offense, such as junior captain forward Avery Bauman.
“She’s a workhorse. She has been taking the bulk of our shots. We just have to find the back of the net, and it’ll come,” says Dickey. “It’s not like we aren’t getting opportunities. We just have to tweak what were doing to make our opportunities count when they need to.”
Bauman is also working hard while leading Westbrook’s effort to raise awareness of ovarian cancer. The team is running a season-long pledge drive of dollars for goals that they will donate to the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition at year’s end. The Knights will also have a Teal Game to raise ovarian cancer awareness when they host Haddam-Killingworth at 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 27.
“Some of our team has been affected by ovarian cancer, so we decided to try to raise awareness,” said Bauman. “Not a lot of people know about it and, when they do find out about it, a lot of times it’s too late.”
Another key player for Westbrook is junior captain midfielder Katherine Dahl. Even though she doesn’t shoot the ball that often, she keeps the offense moving for the Knights, and has their lone goal this year.
“She’s helping distribute the ball really well right now,” said Dickey. “She did score a goal so far this season, but she’s not necessarily getting into the shots so much.”
Coach Dickey hopes that Westbrook can find its identity quickly, but as long as the Knights find it in time for a playoff push, she’ll be satisfied. Until then, Dickey wants to keep the game as simple possible for everyone.
“I’d be totally fine if we find that identity in mid-October, but sooner rather than later would be better,” she said. “Our motto this year is ‘Keep it simple and take it one game, one practice at a time.’ Too much is over-complicated for these kids, and I want it to be simple and easy to work together to figure it out.”
Regardless of the results, Coach Dickey knows that she will enjoy working with Knights’ athletes because of their passion for the game.
“I think top to bottom, they are dedicated, and they have a fire in their belly to win. It’s a pleasure to be around them,” Dickey said. “It’s fun to see young ladies so excited about a sport and working hard to make the corrections they need to.”
From the Sidelines
The Westbrook field hockey team’s varsity roster includes senior captain Lauren Wright; junior captains Avery Bauman and Katherine Dahl; juniors Carolyn Bauman, Alana Bochanis, and Jamie Merola; sophomores Alivia Ciarcia, Olivia Hartzell, Alexandra Koplas, Micayla Malchiodi, Kendall Orlowski, and Alex Young; and freshman Bailey Roberts.
Knights’ Head Coach Janet Dickey earned her 200th career win last season. Helping her on the sidelines in assistant coach Emily Alger.
Prior to last week’s action, Westbrook played to a 0-0 tie against Suffield, edged Old Saybrook 1-0, and tied Valley Regional 0-0.