Written By: Kenia Ciraulo

The Newport Harbor Field Hockey girls have been taking their season by storm! Varsity placed second in their league heading into playoffs and both JV and Frosh/Soph held a winning record, many could say that 2016 has been a success for the Sailors.

The varsity team had many great accomplishments throughout their league season and in tournaments, such as winning first place at the Highlander Cup played in San Diego. After waking up before sunrise to travel, the sailors played a total of five games. All of which they won, and kept winning until they had claimed the title of “champions” for the second year in a row. A total of 17 goals were scored by the sailors throughout the day, 11 of which were sent into the back of the cage by senior McKenzie Porteous, and the defense was on fire resulting in an almost shutout tournament. Only 1 goal was scored on them, and it was late in the championship game. The tournament was an all-around success for the team and created a sense of unity within the team. When asked about this year’s team chemistry, senior defender Hayden Allen said “the team has played really well overall; we really connected together and improved a lot over the season.”

Going into the league championship game against Edison, the team is feeling stronger than ever and ready to win!

This year, over half of the varsity team is made up of graduating seniors. Composed of 12 seniors and only 9 underclassmen, the team has many experienced players who are able to contribute their skills to winning the game. “Having a lot of seniors allows for the younger girls to get a feel for everything that will be expected from us in the future,” says varsity sophomore Maddie Vargas. The seniors have years of experience they will be able to pass down onto younger grades, contributing to the growth and helping to strengthen the field hockey program.

JV and Frosh/Soph have also been incredibly successful. “I think that we started out not knowing anything about how we would work as a team, but overtime and throughout the season we were able to bond and remain undefeated” said Tristan Warmington, a junior, about the JV Field Hockey team. In their season, JV had some tremendous wins ranging from 10-0 against Chaminade High School to aggressive 1-1 ties against the field hockey rival, Edison High School. The season ended October 22, and JV was happy to announce that they placed first in our league and “finished the league undefeated,” as said by Lauren Dewan, sophomore captain.  Personally, I can’t wait to bring it next year and hopefully get that win against Edison.