Going into the fourth year of their program, led by first-year head coach Jenner Johnson, field hockey looks excellent so far, winning four of their first five games to start the season. 

Even with the program still being so young, senior captain Natalie Ward believes that this will be their breakout year.

“Personally, I think this season has been the best one so far,” Ward said. “Even though we are a young team, we have worked together to build a strong foundation for our program. From looking back at this program three years ago, it’s amazing to see how much we have grown.”

Junior Gabby Sloane attributes much of their teams’ recent success to coach Johnson’s experience and new coaching style, 

“Our new head coach won two high school state championships and a Big Ten title at the University of Michigan while she was captain,” Sloane said. “To have access to her experience and to have her coaching our high school program that is only four years old is amazing.” 

Johnson acknowledges that because of the program’s youth and inexperience they may not be the most skilled team, but shares how her philosophy of playing tough and working hard can lead them to success.

“My philosophy as a coach is that we will strive to work harder and play smarter than any other team,” Johnson explained. “I also like to simply tell players to ‘make your team win.’ By that I mean do the little things. You don’t have to score goals for me to know the contribution you are making, and I think the players need to be reminded of that.” 

The Kits go to Deerfield next Thursday, Oct. 3 at 6:15, looking to ride their wave of recent success.