▪ LS leaders listed the success: Coach Vicky Caburian and her Warriors celebrated a few firsts this season: the program’s first undefeated streak as champions in the Dual County League and finishing the regular season atop the MIAA Division 1 Power Rankings.

“Every game (the team) did something special,” Caburian said. “This is a special season, but I think it’s the culmination of 26 years at the helm here.”

The Warriors (14-0-2, 10-0-0 DCL) defeated all of their opponents in addition to tying Wellesley twice. In the first match, LS recovered with a score of 3-0 in the third quarter, despite lacking confidence at halftime.

“(I told them) never give up, just keep creating opportunities. That’s what we did,” Caburian said. “No matter what position we are in, we will stay positive and support each other throughout the game.”

Success was never guaranteed. Senior captain Ellie Innes credited the work of the seven-person captain council with influencing the hard-working environment.

“Once we started gaining that momentum, we thought, ‘We really have this. We could be a really good team,'” he said. “We were so excited to keep it going, but in the back of our minds we knew we hadn’t won anything yet.”

By embracing a “one game at a time” mentality, Lincoln-Sudbury hopes it can continue to push toward a deep postseason run.

“I’m proud of the team and how hard they worked together,” Caburian said. “Well you know what, why not Lincoln-Sudbury?”

▪ Winning is Walpole’s way: The Porkers, the last champions of the 1st League, had a dominant season with 106 goals, 6 goals scored, 17 wins, 1 draw and 12 losses.

“Every year, no matter how many returning players we have or how many we lose, we want to make the state final game,” Walpole coach Jen Quinn said.

The team’s tenacity and ambition powered Walpole throughout the season, enabling a quick recovery after a scoreless draw against Natick (October 22).

“We moved away from that thinking that if we didn’t learn from this, it would only be negative,” Quinn said. “We kind of broke it down and played Needham on Thursday and (the players) were incredible (in the 4-0 win).”

Senior captain Caitlyn Naughton has played in three straight D1 finals. Like his teammates, he hopes to bring back-to-back championships to cap his senior season before heading to the University of Massachusetts to play lacrosse.

“Before every game we talk about intensity around us,” Naughton said. “We want to win as much as possible, but we also want to be proud of ourselves and our performance no matter what. We gave everything on the field, whether we won or lost.

▪ That’s the work ethic in Watertown: The Raiders enter the tournament as three-time defending champions, led by the state’s winningest coach, Eileen Donahue, and senior captains Rachel Egan and Adrianna Williams.

There have been notable departures from the 2023 championship team, including the Driscoll sisters Molly (graduate) and Regan, now at Phillips Andover. So there were questions.

“If there was a decline, it was definitely in the preseason,” Donahue said. “(I thought) this is our team, so what are we going to do? Will we take action or try to get better?

But in Watertown field hockey fashion, the Raiders found their identity, getting off to a 7-0 start and rising to the top of the Middlesex League standings.

Egan, who is committed to play at Holy Cross, scored 11 hat-tricks and scored more than 40 goals.

“We worked hard on our corners and attacking opportunities in training,” Egan said. “A lot of it starts with our defensive play, we transfer it out of defense and then we transfer it to our forwards and reduce our basic stick skills.”

After embracing the “Work harder every day” mantra, Watertown will handle the stress of the postseason by focusing on one game at a time and not underestimating its opponents.

“We’re just focusing on the first opponent and hopefully we can get through them,” Donahue said. “If we can keep what’s here in front of us and get better with every practice, hopefully that carries over into the game.”

Corner kicks

▪ Last fall, West Bridgewater scored 40 goals in 19 games. This season the Wildcats knew they had to increase their production to be successful.

The Wildcats did just that, scoring 59 goals during the 11-4-3 regular season.

Coach said, “In general, scoring goals was our strength.” BillFlynn. “The girls worked hard on that, but also on the corners.”

In its second season in the South Coast Conference, West Bridgewater dominated the league’s best.

“Our first win against Case (was important),” Flynn said. “They were the defending conference champions. We left early.”

Although WB suffered a 10-2 defeat against perennial power Somerset Berkley at the end of the regular season, Flynn said his side produced one of their best efforts of the season. The defense slowed down SB’s scoring attack to keep the Wildcats in the game.

“It was a 1-1 game after the first quarter,” said Flynn. “And it’s only 4-1 after the first half.”

Flynn is proud of not only the Wildcats’ scoring gains, but also their postseason efforts on behalf of the community. captains Abby Matthew And Grace Pollen During their game against Dighton-Rehoboth on October 22, he organized the team’s Stick it to Cancer fundraiser, raising $900 in the process.

West Bridgewater, currently ranked 15th in the Division 4 standings, is awaiting tournament seeding.

“We’ll take it one by one,” Flynn said.

Reporter Kat Cornetta contributed to this story.

Alexa Podalsky can be reached at [email protected].