Field Hockey off to a Strong Start

It's been a little different start to the season for the Winchester field hockey team. The Sachems dropped their first four games a year ago, this year, it's been a little different for Winchester.

After defeating Stoneham on Monday, 2-0, Winchester (2-0) has yet to lose a game. It's still early, but the expectations are continuing to rise for the team.

"We could tell during the preseason that we were going to do well," said Emily Savage, who scored both of Winchester's goals. "This team really works well together."

But that's just the way this Sachem team is built. Heading into the season, Savage hadn't scored a goal in a varsity game. Now, after two games, she has three scores.

"I wasn't expecting to do this well," Savage said. "I was surprised when I scored my first goal, but I'm happy and I've been lucky; the ball's bounced my way a few times."

Savage scored the first goal of the game off a corner. Catherine Olsen stopped the ball with her stick and set up the shot for Savage. On the second goal, Savage picked up the ball in the circle and was able to slide it right past the goalie.

Once Winchester got the lead Stoneham was forced to try and counterattack most of the second half. And even when the Spartans had possession in Winchester's zone, they were forced to take outside shots.

"I thought they were very attacking," said Winchester coach Michelle White. "They had some big hits, but we were able to transition the ball out of our zone very quickly. And once we got it out of our zone, we were able to maintain possession in our offensive end."

The shutout was aided by the defense and goalie Emily van Seventen. Even though the season is still fairly young, the Sachems and Coach White can already see the difference between this year and last.

"Well, last year we started off 0-4," White said. "Certainly there's a difference now. The new turf is a big reason why we're doing so well. That's been huge for us. We've already been improving every game as opposed to last year when we started to regress as the field worsened."