Fournier, Hawks Eye the Season

Next year the varsity field hockey team will be moving into the Hockomock League, but this year — their last in the Mid Wach A League — they look to rebound and make their presence felt coming off a tough 2-14-2 season.

Head coach Jennifer Fournier has her work cut out for her this season as she looks to replace 10 senior players from last year, who included four solid captains in defender , midfielder Heather Campbell, midfielder and — possibly the most valuable player for the Hawks last season — goalie .

“I pretty much have a whole new squad with girls that haven’t played together,” Fournier said. “I have a lot of younger girls — sophomores, a couple freshman — but all of them have done a really great job in the off-season coming together, going to camps and really conditioning well, so I think that as long as we work out our kinks in the pre-season, this season is going to be good for us in regards to at least staying competitive in our league. That’s our goal with such a new team.”

Though the team is young, they will be led by two experienced varsity captains in forward and defender Kasey Wilcox. Both players have been on varsity the past few years and really took their commitment to leadership to the next level this summer by getting the younger girls — including the eighth graders, due to Milford not having a starter program for field hockey until the high school level — involved with camps and conditioning.

“We do the Holy Cross camp, where we go away together, we do the summer league [at the Habitat in Uxbridge] — and I think seeing each other over the summer we become friends, which helps so much when we come back here because we have girls ranging [in ages] from 13 tp 18, and that’s such a big difference,” Wilcox said. “We bond over the game and they realize that and it makes them more comfortable [out on the field].”

Being comfortable out on the field will be important this year, as Fournier looks to incorporate a more aggressive offense attack this year, packing more of her midfield instead of her defense as she did last year. With only five players returning with much varsity game experience, and most of them at the defensive end, this new approach is one that Fournier is excited about.

“We’re focusing a lot more in the off-season on shooting and scoring, but we’re in a tough league, so we still can’t lose the defensive aspect,” she said. “I pack the defense usually so that when I do lose a lot of seniors, I’m not coming back with a whole new defensive line. I’ll be coming back with a whole new offensive line or midline. I think my defense is solid this year, so I pack the defense/midfield to support more of an offensive push, and then we’ll have more scoring opportunities.”

Wilcox echoes Fournier’s ideology on offense and believes it’s a big factor this year more than ever. “I know we’d love to win, but I think scoring is something that we would love to see, because we’re in an extremely difficult league where scoring has always been an extreme challenge for us,” she said. “I really think if we score once a game that will lift everyone’s spirits up because we try so hard to do so.”

One of the major reasons the Hawks are able to be more aggressive on offense this season is because of the number of solid defenders returning in Wilcox, junior Arianne Brundrett and junior Jocyln Crivello. Those three athletes help make it a smoother transition from losing defenders Blackburn, and Katie Barie.

With the defense in check, the offensive load will be placed on Hebert, one of the top goal scorers for Milford last year. She’s ready for the challenge. “Score,” said Hebert when asked what she’s looking to do in front of the net this year. “I want to win this year. I’m really competitive and I don’t want to lose.”

Players to watch on the offensive end this season are senior Sam Nicholas and junior Cierra Meurant, among other younger players that Fournier hopes will rise to the occasion.

Though having certain pieces of their offense and defense back, the team is not complete without a goal tender, which they have found in young sophomore Jessica Pye, who was the JV goalie last season. Pye looks to fill the void left behind by Ferrante, who stopped 90 percent of the shots she faced last year. Though Pye will be the full-time goalie, she will be backed by sophomore Joiya Sousa. “Jessica [Pye] knew she’d have big shoes to fill and she did a great job in the off-season and she’s going to be our full-time goalie,” said Fournier.

Despite being young, Fournier describes her team as “enthusiastic” and said she is excited to see these young athletes compete this fall. “I told them I want to be as competitive as we can, so that when we leave this league people will say that ‘we can’t walk all over Milford; Milford doesn’t give up',” she said.

The Hawks open the season at home at 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 6, against Franklin.