The varsity field hockey team has continued to dominate their competitors with an overall record of 5-1.

Their most recent game was on Sept. 25 against the Barons of Bethesda Chevy Chase. It was a highly intense game, with the score knotted at 0 for most of the first half. That changed when junior Kirby Child scored off senior Alexa Kantor’s corner. It was a slow roller, but it got through to the goal and gave the Patriots the 1-0 lead.

There were a couple scoring opportunities for both sides in the rest of the first half, but no goals were scored. The Patriots shut down every scoring chance for the Barons the rest of the game. The final score was 1-0, a Patriot victory. “It was a team effort and everyone stepped up to the plate and played their hardest for us to get the win,” senior Alexa Kantor said.

The game before, on Sept. 23, was against Damascus. The Patriots ran up the score with a 5-0 win. Junior Quinn Lugenbee led the way with two goals, Juniors Darcy Touchette and Kirby Child contributed with one goal each, and the last goal came from senior captain Kendall Clark. “This game was really exciting, because people who don’t normally play a lot or even score goals, were able to,” senior captain Leah Kellert said.

Before the game against BCC, the team did a bonding exercise where they all went to the gym and had a pre-game dance party. “I think the team really benefited from it because we were all able to forget our stresses about the game and were able to just have fun before getting focused to win the game,” sophomore Emily Levine said.

The team had another game against Walter Johnson on Sept. 20. The game was a nail biter. Ultimately the Patriots fell short and lost 1-0. They fought hard but could not succeed without their coach Welma Luus. Luus did not attend the game, due to being on a trip to South Africa. “Without Welma there we felt like our rhythm was off, it was a tough game,” senior Mia Silver said.

Despite that loss against the Wildcats, the Patriots had previously proven themselves on Sept. 16, against the Whitman Vikings. The game was low scoring, but the Patriots found a way to win 1-0. Junior Maya Erd led the way, scoring the only goal in the first half. The second half was scoreless. “This was a tough game but we pulled through and came out with a good win,” junior Laura See said.”

The Patriots game on Sept. 30 against rival Churchill Bulldogs and the the game after that was against Wheaton on Oct. 7, , but were both too late to be covered in this issue.