When Sleepy Hollow senior co-captain Jennifer Angevine practiced with her teammates on Aug. 23, it was the first time she was on the field with them in nearly two years.
Angevine tore her ACL during her sophomore year while playing lacrosse. That cost her the rest of the lacrosse season and both field hockey and basketball during her junior year.
To be able to come back on the field and practice for Sleepy Hollow in field hockey on the first day of practice for the 2010 campaign was a very special moment for Angevine, as she and her teammates will open the season against vistiting Nanuet at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 7.
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"It was a lot of fun to play with the girls on my team," Angevine said. "It was nice to be on the field with my friends again."
Angevine brings with her the experience of being a member of the Hudson Valley squad that won gold at the Empire State Games in Buffalo this summer.
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She is now playing center-midfield after previously playing center-forward for Sleepy Hollow. The change means a lot more work for Angevine but to her, it's worth it.
"Center-mid is a lot more running and a lot more control over the field because you have to be everywhere," Angevine said. "I had to get my cardio up. It's going to be a lot more work but it's going to be good for me in the long run."
Sleepy Hollow won just one game last year but Angevine said first-year coach Melissa Alamprese has motivated the team. That motivation has helped transform the team's attitude from focusing on having fun to having fun and improving their game.
"We are going to have a really good season this year," Angevine said. "We have a new coach who is bringing a lot more intensity to our game. We are working together better, we have more chemistry this year, with all the seniors we do have."
The team is a heavily senior-laden squad as the majority of team consists of seniors, with the exceptions of junior forwards Vali Morales and Chloe Smercak.
Joining Angevine as the key seniors on this year's squad are co-captain Gabby Cellante, who will play either right or left midfield; Gianna Volpe, center-back midfield; Andrea Alvarez, forward; and Emily Mottola, midfield.
Angevine and Cellante will provide plenty of leadership, intensity and the experience to the squad. Volpe is a defensive player that the ball seems to never go by and someone that Sleepy Hollow can always rely on at that position.
Alvarez is a great finisher who is always ready to get her stick on the ball so she can shoot it on the goal while Mottola has a great ability to be able to push the ball forward.
"I feel like with so many seniors the maturity level is a lot higher so we are at practice ready to work hard," Angevine said. "Since this is our last year as seniors, we really want to bring back the program since we only had one win last year. We hope we can make it to the sectionals if not past the first round."
