The field hockey team honored five seniors, Maggie Carr, Kathleen McDaniel, Taylor Pitzl, Keely Roudebush, and Grace Watkins, Tuesday, Oct. 16 their last home match against the Raiders of Pembroke Hill High School. The game resulted in a loss with the final score of 0-4. The team will play their final game Oct. 22 at Pembroke to close out their season.

“Four of the seniors have been here since freshman year, so it’s always difficult when it comes to the end of the season,” Varsity coach Gwyn Savage said.

The seniors have a special place in their fellow players hearts’ according to junior Lilly Denney. To honor the seniors, teammates wrote a letter to each senior to be given along with  flowers during the presentations that took place after the game. 

“I’ll just miss having them around,” Denney said. “I love our captains this year; I love their energy and how they lead the team.”

The seniors that have played all four years didn’t have the new field their freshman year and had to practice at Leawood City Park.  This made for some fun memories Savage said.

“At Leawood Park, the grass was so long that we had to practice with a mini soccer ball instead of a real hockey ball,” Savage said. “It was a tough way to learn the game, but they were definitely fitter with all the running they did.”  

Roudebush said her senior season was the best season, and she has the most fun when she is traveling and hanging out with her teammates.

“I will miss hanging out with my teammates on the out of town trips,” Roudebush said. “It has been amazing and fun, and I think this has been the best season I have ever had.”  

Though the season did not go as the team had hoped for, with the team’s record being 1-1-7, the team still had a lot of fun going to tournaments, especially traveling tournaments, which helped with team building according to Denney. Savage said he is happy with the improvement from last year’s team and is hopeful the team can work on capitalizing on opportunities in front of the goal for next season.

“It’s been a mixed season, some tough score lines if you just look at the results, but there has been an improvement since last season,” Savage said.  “We just need to learn to take our opportunities in front of goal.”

With the surplus of freshman that tried out for the team, Savage said he is excited for the possibilities in the upcoming seasons. He believes the competition for starting positions from the underclassman drives the team on.

“Our underclassmen are a great group, and the future looks bright,” Savage said. “We are always on the lookout for student athletes, whatever age, to come tryout for next season. We hope to attract another great incoming class.”