Malden High’s Field Hockey team rushes into the fall season after a 3-1 year. Increasing in size by 13 new players and 4 captains, the field hockey team hopes to show what they are made of. Assistant Coach Tiffany Cane says that “[the team] has daily practices. [The coaches] constantly pressure and challenge [the players and] always expect better and better every day. [She] thinks the kids are starting to see that as [they] win more and more games, their confidence levels are growing, which is also helping with [their] skills in the long run”.
On the fourth of October at Pine Banks Park, Malden showed the Lynn Vocational Tech high school what they were made of, taking home a 5-1 win. Malden’s offense kept the ball in the Vocational’s zone for the majority of the game. When the ball was pressed toward Malden, David Flores, Jayden Caplis and Sabrina Flores Palencia made sure to keep the defense tight.
While the team is on the rebound after losing 11 graduated seniors and plenty of others due to the pandemic year, Cane “[thinks] this is a rebuilding year for [them][and] [they are] doing better than [she] expected.”
Junior Captain Peyton Lightbody, who has been playing since her freshman year, was the goalie for this game, saving many goals. She says, “[her] dad coached field hockey when [she] was little and [she] had a connection with the game [ever] since and that made [her] want to continue.” Lightbody has “improved on [her] blocking [and her] leading skills,” however she still needs to work on “[her] communication to help [the] team and improving [her] own game.”
Junior Captain Henry Zhao, who plays center forward, has been playing since his freshman year and “[wants] to continue field hockey so [they] can win some more and hang out together.” Zhao has been improving by “being a little bit more confident working with [his] team [and] being more communicative while running faster,” but needs to work on “opening [his] choices [and] actually looking around for [his] team.”
Even with the victory he believes “[he] could do better. [He] felt the team could play a lot better than [they] were,but there is so much potential for [them] and it just keeps growing.” Cane mused that “[Zhao] is constantly doing things that build the spirit up like buying them all kazoos. He’s a free spirit and he shows he loves the game and his smile is contagious. [Zhao] and the rest are doing a really great job to keep that spirit up.”
Junior Defender Simon Pham remarked about how he needs to be much “more team reliant selfless.” He agreed with his teammate Flores, middle defender, that winning was their favorite part of the sport. “[It’s] when [they] know [they] can do better, but [they’re] not living up to [their] potential,” he remarked on the topic.
With Tiffany Cane and Samantha Souza bringing the Field Hockey team to new heights, and Malden’s captains and players rising to the challenge, they can expect a powerful season with new plays, strategies, and maybe even some more kazoos.
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