Hopedale Field Hockey

Over the past ten seasons the Hopedale field hockey team has compiled a 144-22-11 regular season record where they have gone undefeated twice, grabbed three number one seeds and two number two seeds in the Division 2 Central State Tournament. Once they entered the tournament the Blue Raiders made it to the Quarter Finals 5 times, the Finals 4 times and were bounced out of the first round only once.
Although Hopedale has won eight of the last nine Dual Valley Championships, the squad has never been able to win a championship during the past decade despite their dominance during the regular season. Last fall the team posted their first single digit winning season in some time going 8-6-4 and unfortunately losing 1-0 to Lunenberg in overtime of the first round of tournament play.
Coach Jessica Rogers is hoping to get her team back into double digit win territory and back into the Division 2 Central Tournament, where she3 hopes Hopedale can make some noise.
“Our first goal is to get our (Dual Valley) League Title back. We had won the previous eight titles until last year when we lost a close game to Nipmuc and the title went to them,” the Blue Raiders Coach said. “After we accomplish that then we’ll move into the Division 2 District Tournament.”
Looking to get the team back on top will be senior captains Cassidy Adams, Michaela Vail and Jenny Holland. And while these are the only captains on the field hockey team, Coach Rogers says every one of her seniors is a captain this season on a Hopedale team in some aspect.
Adams is a defensive midfielder that very rarely sees her name in the box score but despite the recognition she is very valuable to the Blue Raiders.
“Cassidy doesn’t get the respect that she deserves (from outside sources), but she is a very big key for us,” the coach said. “She distributes the ball and is a reliable athlete that controls the field from defense to offense.”
While Adams true worth is on defense her counterpart in Vail, who plays the high center midfield, is offensive oriented and when under pressure she seems to play her best. According to the coach, she is a momentum changer.
Unfortunately for Hopedale, its third captain has been nursing a torn cartilage in her shoulder and has yet to see the field this season.
“She (Holland) is in the process of working her way back onto the field and we anticipate her return,” Rogers said. “Although she is not playing, she doesn’t go unnoticed – her voice is continuously heard from the sideline.”
There are three other seniors on the Blue Raider squad that the coach is looking for production from. Forward Megan McLellan posted the most goals for the team last year and through the first nine games of the season has recorded 4 goals and 2 assists.
Riley Noyes is another midfielder with excellent stick control and can move the ball up field with ease. She is an all-round player that never stops and works well with both Adams and Vail. Jackie Norris rounds out the seniors giving the coach a very versatile athlete that can play forward as well as midfield and her flexibility allows her to be a rather important asset to Hopedale’s success.
Although the seniors make up a good number of the talented athletes on the squad, Rogers is lucky to have sophomore Piper Hampsch between the pipes for her.
“Piper is already committed to Duke to play field hockey there and was nationally ranked in the top 50 of the Nation,” the Hopedale Coach said. “Because our defense is so strong in front of her she has only faced about 20 shots so far. She also plays for a US National indoor team so she gets her action there.”
At the time of this writing the Blue Raiders were 6-2-1 and on track to take back their title, but this year they are doing it a little bit differently than they have in the past.
“Offensively we are trying to spread things around; we have one girls with 5 goals, another with 4 and then a handful with either 2 or 3 goals,” Rogers said. “This year we have no one stud who controls the game instead we are focused on using everyone.”