WORCESTER >> Temperatures in the mid 90s, sticky humidity in the air and construction trucks trying to get athletic fields ready as soon as possible — it sounds like the first day of high school sports practices is upon us.
The Methacton field hockey team was on the field for the first time Monday morning to kickoff a season that looks to build off of last year’s 13-6 campaign which ended in the first round of the District playoffs with a 1-0 loss to Avon Grove.
“I feel like every single year we’ve gotten just second place or so close and I think this year we’re going to finish off well,” senior Emily Sayre said.
“It was pretty hard back then,” senior Madeline Alderfer said of last year’s season-ending defeat, “but I think now we are ready to move on and start the new season off really well. We have very good potential for this year.”
The Warriors return all but three starters from last year’s squad and will have girls with varsity experience filling in the holes, which is the main reason for optimism in Worcester this fall.
“We have a solid core of players that have been playing together for two or three years,” coach Sarah Quintois said. “I have high expectations for this year.”
“This year we’re more glued,” Sayre, who is committed to St. Joseph’s University, said. “A lot of our starters from last year are still appearing on the field. So we know each other, we play with each other, we play off-the-field with each other with clubs, so we understand each other and how we play so it should be going well.”
“I think we’re going to be a really good team,” Alderfer, who is headed to Holy Cross, said. “I hope we go to PAC-10s and Districts and keep moving on further than last year.”
The biggest change for Methacton this season comes in the cage, where Sarah Park will be taking over. Despite being a backup thus far in her high school career, the senior is committed to the University of Virginia to continue her education and career next year.
“When I first started field hockey I always imagined going there and playing there was a dream,” Park said of UVA, where she committed to less than four months after first hearing from the school.
“I am so excited (to be the starter). I have been training for this the entire time I’ve been in my high school career so it’s exciting to be like, ‘Hey I’m ready guys I can play!’”
“This is her first year starting because she had an All-American and a player who is now at Duke (Sammi Steele) playing ahead of her,” Quintois said. “At any other school, (Park) would have been a starter for a year or two, but now she’s coming in and she’s a very strong player. We were lucky to have such a strong backup goalie and this year is her year.”
If everything goes according to plan, not only will this be Parks’ year, it will be the Warriors’ year as well.
The season gets started on Sept. 4 at 4 p.m. when Methacton hosts North Penn.
