You have been in the last three leagues after winning 73 of your last 80 matches. You’ve been to 1 state final and won two, losing by a deficit you haven’t lost in years is usually frowned upon.

But a few minutes later, the Andover field hockey team lost 4-0 to Div. Bridget Morris, head coach of the 4’s Uxbridge team on October 9, was not upset. He met briefly with his team and told the players positive takeaways. After leaving the meeting, he widened his eyes, raised his eyebrows, pointed at Uxbridge and simply said: “They’re really nice.”

Kyle Cappallo is the head coach of the Div. 4 competitors Monomoy describes Uxbridge as a historic force and has four Div. 1 player heading to college and potentially more on the way. Bishop Feehan head coach Betsy D’Ambrosia has not lost confidence in her team as Div. After a 9-1 loss to the Spartans, the No. 1 contender knows how good they are as three-time defending Div. 4 state champions.

Even Walpole head coach Jen Quinn, the favorite to repeat as her team Div. 1 state champion vented his frustrations before narrowly beating Uxbridge 1-0 on October 2; This avenged the dominant Porkers’ only defeat last year.

You would be hard-pressed to meet a coach or player who does not recognize Uxbridge’s elite status.

After all, the Spartans are one of three MIAA field hockey programs to achieve a three-peat. The Spartans (16-2) are showing every sign they can join Watertown as the only programs to win four straight championships with another major streak this November, competing with and even outdoing some of the state’s toughest foes.

Senior captains Ellie Bouchard and Bailey Dzivasen, as well as star juniors Amelia Blood and Kendall Gilmore, among others, have been key catalysts for these three championships since their freshman and eighth grade starts. All four smiled and giggled when told what the other coaches had said about their teams.

Before joining the program, Uxbridge field hockey had not had a single state championship or even an appearance in the state finals. When Kelly Rosborough took over as head coach in 2014, it was a slow process, but the program quickly became a behemoth.

They are humble, but the other coaches appreciate them for that.

“It’s exciting, but it makes me so happy that people think of us that way,” Blood said. “Because we are a very small school and we have come this far. “This is truly a great success.”

Dzivasen also added, “My mother was joking.” “He said: ‘You don’t realize how good this is. You won’t realize it until you’re older.’ And I said, ‘I’m a senior right now and I can’t believe we’ve won three state championships already.’ … This makes me proud.”

There are many elements that make the Spartans an elite force in the state.

Stars are starting with Gilmore (Maryland), Blood (Wake Forest), junior forward Julianna Casucci (New Hampshire) and Bouchard (Bryant) heading to college while heading to Div. 1. Dzivasen, Franklin Pierce softball standout and junior Julia Okenquist is still exploring her options as one of the state’s top basemen.

Sophomores Addie Blood and Maddie Cammuso help Dzivasen anchor a defense that has allowed 14 goals and allowed just six despite facing one of the state’s toughest schedules. Freshman forward Ava Rosborough tops Casucci and Ellie Bouchard to fuel an attack averaging over seven goals per game, and sophomores Brooklyn Kaferlein and Aubrey Bouchard line up alongside Amelia Blood and Gilmore in a midfield that often controls the flow of play. is of vital importance.

“I think everyone is so talented at everything,” Ellie Bouchard said. “Everybody can play offense, everybody can play defense.”

Speed, athleticism, power, hitting accuracy, hitting versatility, bat handling, tackling – talent is unquestionable. But what has made Uxbridge so strong over the last four-plus years is its commitment to each other as a unit rather than as individuals. After all, growing up together, playing youth field hockey together, and even playing club together, their bond is a driving force in their success.

“Honestly, I think we know each other because we’ve been playing with each other for a long time,” Dzivasen said. “We know our strengths, we know our weaknesses, we just know each other. And we can build from that.”

“I feel like we work really well together,” Ellie Bouchard added. “We find each other on the field, I don’t even know how else to explain it.”

It’s the dedication to the team that not only made this run possible, but also made it so special.

Amelia Blood, Gilmore and Casucci were starting eighth grade in 2021, the year Uxbridge won the state championship for the first time. Dzivasen and Ellie Bouchard were both freshmen and sophomores.

Blood’s favorite memory in the three years since isn’t scoring the game-winning goal to capture his first state title. It wasn’t when Bouchard became the program’s first 100-goal scorer. Gilmore’s state championships aren’t even any, and Dzivasen’s is exactly that.

Dzivasen’s smile beams as he describes his bus ride home from the state championships, enjoying the celebrations with his teammates and the Uxbridge community. What Bouchard was talking about when talking about his first state championship was the community and how meaningful it was for the town to enjoy the victory with them.

But perhaps the highlight for all four was the double-overtime victory over Monomoy in the 2022 state semifinals.

“For us at that moment, it was just a matter of us all coming together and working as a team,” Gilmore said. “I think we did that really well. Having played from childhood through high school, we trusted each other completely. We knew we had each other’s backs, and I think that’s what guided us to this win. … I love how we were able to make those connections on and off the court.

As long as they stick together, Uxbridge (with only Dzivasen and Bouchard graduating) is a long way from creating shockwaves.

tournament time

The final set of MIAA power rankings were released Friday, and official state tournament rankings will be released at 11 a.m. Tuesday before action begins Thursday. The first instinct for teams whose schedules are finalized before Friday is to assume that their rankings shouldn’t change much anymore.

Don’t assume this.

Watertown is in search of its own history

The Raiders finished another perfect regular season, extending their winning streak to 92 games heading into Div. 3 state tournaments. The only other MIAA field hockey program to reach 68 is Walpole.

Watertown still has a long way to go to match its national record of 124 consecutive wins, but the program can boast two of the state’s best winning streaks.