Field Hockey Notebook: Patriot League gets an assist with Notre Dame Academy

When MIAA field hockey was given the go-ahead to proceed this fall, COVID-19 safety concerns drove most schools to insulate themselves within the comfort of league play, allowing for shorter bus rides and more compact schedules.

For an independent team like Notre Dame Academy in Hingham, however, a lack of non-league opponents threatened to set off a game of musical chairs where the Cougars were left with no place to sit.

Fortunately for NDA, the Patriot League provided shelter for the vagabond program, inviting Cougar squads inside to help them get through a challenging fall.

“We were a little bit nervous because we were an independent schedule last year. We’ve been traveling as far as Bishop Fenwick in Peabody, Notre Dame in Worcester, down the Cape to Barnstable,” said NDA coach Cindy Tozzi. “When the virus hit, it was nice of Jim (Quatromoni) over at Hingham High to bring us into the Patriot League so we didn’t have to travel all over the world. We were really worried about all the other leagues having their set schedules and not playing in non-league situations, so it was great that we landed that.”

The arrangement lets the Cougars take one trip through the Patriot League, giving them a 10-game regular season. While league members will compete in Patriot Cup tournaments in soccer and field hockey to conclude the year, NDA will not take part.

After a brief acclimation period, the Cougars have thrived in their new surroundings. NDA dropped its first two contests of the season, losses to crosstown rival Hingham and co-ed Plymouth North, but has responded with four straight wins, entering the weekend at 4-2 with four games remaining.

“It’s been great to play against some local teams,” said senior captain Christine Landry, a Hanover native. “A lot of us have been able to face our hometown teams keeping it local on the South Shore, so it’s been really great to have some competition nearby. The change in schedule, it’s not what we are used to, but I think we have adjusted really well and we have been enjoying it.”

NDA brought back a strong nucleus from a team that advanced to the Division 1 South semifinals before falling to Walpole, led by six seniors, including three that are part of the Cougars top 7-on-7 unit in Landry, Emily Murphy and Lily Snape.

Landry, the team’s leading scorer, plays on the right side in a midfield group that has Emily Coughlin on the left and Bridget Rushing in the center, with Murphy positioned up top. Caelen Stewart and Cam Baurassa anchor the defense in front of Snape in goal.

“After getting used to the 7v7 and switching the system of play, the kids are coming into their own and playing some really good hockey right now,” said Tozzi. “The chemistry is there.”

Tozzi is in her 29th season as the only field hockey coach in NDA history, and the Cougars have developed into an incredibly consistent program under her stewardship, qualifying for the postseason in each of the previous seven years.

That success has come despite rarely having players whose primary sport is field hockey, often harnessing the talents of players from the school’s powerhouse ice hockey and lacrosse programs.

“At NDA, we have very competitive teams and well-rounded athletes,” said Landry, a Herald All-Scholastic in ice hockey and softball captain. “You kind of see the cohesiveness from the ice hockey and the lacrosse season carry over into the field hockey season, where you have people from all different sports coming together and whatever situation they are put in they are going to be working hard.”

With no MIAA tournament this year, and NDA not officially part of the Patriot League, it would be easy for this season to feel like largely a series of exhibition games for a team that had expectations of another postseason run. But Tozzi and the Cougars have tried to keep a positive outlook regarding the campaign.

“We talked with the kids at the beginning of the season about just being happy that we are playing,” said Tozzi. “We go day by day because you hear of other teams shutting down and going into quarantine, so it’s nice that they have been able to play, and for some of the kids that are going to be able to play next year get to work on their skills to advance to the next level.”

For Cougars like Landry, with her softball season wiped out last spring and her final ice hockey campaign very much in limbo, they are treating this fall as a 10-game going-away gift to their field hockey careers.

“You kind of just take what you are given and we want to make the most out of the games that we have,” Landry said. “We feel very fortunate obviously just to be able to play right now. We are worried about our future seasons in winter and spring, but are just focusing on the fall season and field hockey because we don’t know how many more games we are going to be able to play for NDA, especially the senior class, because the future is so uncertain.”

Racking up the Ws

To paraphrase Sesame Street, field hockey in Massachusetts is brought to you by the letter W.

That’s been the case for the last three-and-a-half decades, as towns that begin with W have dominated the field hockey landscape. Of course, two programs are responsible for much of it — perennial juggernauts Walpole and Watertown.

Since 1984, Walpole has won 20 sectional and 12 state championships in Division 1. Watertown has been even better in Division 2 with 26 sectionals and 18 state crowns. Five times — in 1990, 1994, 2001, 2013 and 2016 — there has been a Walpole-Watertown state title sweep.

Weston has a proud tradition with seven sectional and one state championship, while Waltham, Winchester and West Bridgewater all have sectional hardware. And that’s just EMass as if you throw in the Central both Westborough and Westfield have each won three sectionals, and Westford Academy picked one up before moving East.

But this is a vintage year for the Ws. Six of them — Walpole, Watertown, Wellesley, Winchester, Wilmington and Westwood entered Friday’s play unbeaten, while Weston has just one loss, which came against — you guessed it — Wayland.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3mGuXId