Norwood Field Hockey

Last fall, the Norwood field hockey team finished the regular season with a 13-4-1 record and was awarded a seventh seed in the Division 1 South Massachusetts Field Hockey Tournament. Although the Mustangs were a frequent visitor to the tournament, it was not there best showing. Canton upset Norwood 2-1 in the first round and the Mustangs were sent packing; their quickest exit in recent years.
Having lost 12 seniors from last year’s 13 win team, Coach Alison Doliner is looking at a team with only seven returning members and a lot of first-time varsity athletes, including three who made the switch from soccer to field hockey. Needless to say, Doliner and her Mustangs have their work cut out for them.
“The Bay State Conference is super competitive and we know that it’s not going to be easy,” the Norwood Coach said. “We’ve set our expectations high. If you settle for a rebuilding year then you’re setting the bar too low, which would be a recipe for disaster.”
Looking to get the Mustangs into the tournament once again but with a different outcome will be senior Tri-Captains Coley Hayes (center mid and center back), Cassidy Mahoney (right wing) and Katie Mulligan (left mid). Mulligan unfortunately suffered a foot injury and has missed substantial time to open the season leaving the Mustangs vulnerable on the left side.
“The left side is very hard to play and Katie does a fantastic job over there; when she’s on the field she’s always giving us consistent play,” Doliner said.
Making the jump from the soccer team to the field hockey team are senior right midfielder Rachel Noah and juniors Frankie Cevino (midfield and defense) and Ally Naumann (goalie). According to their new coach, all three are very athletic and have the instinct, which makes it easy to teach them the skills of the game.
Of the three, Naumann has been the biggest surprise through the team’s first 10 games this fall despite never having played the position before.
“Janelle Kelleher, our goalie from last year, decided to forgo playing field hockey this year and focus on her ice hockey play,” Doliner said. “Ally heard we were losing our goalie and despite having never played the position in her life wanted to take a shot at it. Lucky for us she has been a definite surprise.”
Through the first half of the season, Neumann has already registered five shutouts, which is remarkable for someone who has never played the game before. Freshman Coach Emily Whitne, a 2009 Norwood graduate and field hockey goalie, has been working with Naumann in the net giving her the instruction she has needed to be successful.
Sophomore Bryn Garczynski, who started every game for the Mustangs last fall as a freshman, has excelled in the mid field and her speed and strength have allowed her to cover a lot of ground. Doliner also has a trio of freshmen in starting center forward Allie McDonough, left and right back Noel Connelly and forward Julie Salvaggio; the trio have shown they have the ability to play the game on the varsity level.“We have a nice group of underclassmen who are not only learning the game, but are getting use to the fast pace of varsity play,” the Coach said. “These girls mixed in with the returning players give us a nice complement of athletes.”
Through the early part of the season, Garczynski (4 goals and 3 assists) and Hayes (5 goals and 3 assists) have been the squad’s leading scorers, while Norwood’s back field is playing the way they did last year. Sophomore Rose Campbell (left-back) and juniors Mia Sanizzi (right-back) and Erin Murphy (center-back) are already in defensive mode.
“Having the entire defense back is huge,” the coach said.”They’re very strong as a unit back there which is good for us, especially with a new goalie.”