Two senior players are ready to lead the team.
It wasn't too long ago that talented midfielders Colleen McAninley and Jenna Patrone were lowly rookies, the only two players from their freshman class to make varsity for the Washington Township High School field hockey team.
Now, all of a sudden, they find themselves as the senior leaders on a young team. With nobody left to look up to, it's their job to keep the younger players in line and practices running smoothly.
"I've been on varsity for four years now and I've had a lot of good senior captains that led the way for us," McAninley said. "I'm just trying to follow in their footsteps.
"I think we're returning a lot of experience with our senior class. We definitely have a tough schedule and it's going to be a tough season, but I think we can overcome it."
Leadership will be especially important for the Minutemaids after the graduation of 12 players from last year's squad, which reached the South Jersey, Group 4 semifinals and finished with a 15-4-1 record. McAninley and Patrone have been named captains along with fellow seniors Kate and Iris Schuck.
"We have been playing with each other for four years, especially me and Colleen," Patrone said. "So we have great chemistry, on and off the field. Plus all of the other seniors we have coming back, like Carly Kreitzer, give us a really strong team. The fact that we work so well together is really helping."
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Despite the losses to graduation, Township has a lot of returning talent. Patrone, Kreitzer and Iris Schuck all shared the team lead with 15 goals in 2014, while McAninley had 13 goals and 14 assists. McAninley, Patrone and Kate Schuck, a defender, were named all-conference first-teamers.
With that group leading the way, the Minutemaids won the 6th annual Hazy, Hot and Hockey 7-on-7 Tournament, hosted by Shawnee in July. They are hoping the strong summer carries over into the fall.
"We got some good competition from Ocean City in the championship and we ended up winning the tournament," McAninley said. "It showed us what we have to work on for the season."
Township will have a new starter in the cage, as Natalie Ricevuto is expected to take over as the starting goalie. McAninley said the junior has been making great progress in the preseason.
There are also two freshmen looking to make an impact in Jessica Hatch and Julia Patrone, Jenna's sister.
"She's definitely going to score a lot of goals," Jenna Patrone predicted of Julia.
"They're both very good players and hard-working, and they both add a lot to our program," McAninley added.
McAninley (Sacred Heart University) and Patrone (Kean) have both made verbal commitments to continue their careers at the next level. But before heading off to college, they are looking for a happy ending to the journey they started together four years ago.
"We're working hard in practice," McAninley said. "We have some new, inexperienced players on the team and we're getting them used to our style of play.
"(Aside from Eastern), Shawnee will be very tough competition, and Bishop Eustace is always tough on the other side of the conference. Nothing is ever easy in our conference, but anything can happen."
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