Within one week, the Staples field hockey team made two accomplishments that were both years in the making.
On Wednesday, Nov. 1 the Wreckers rolled over Darien in the FCIAC semi-finals, ending the Blue Wave’s three-year winning streak. Only three days later Staples made history again. With a win over Wilton, they became FCIAC champions for the first time in seventeen years.
Although Staples was defeated by both Darien and Wilton during the regular season, the Wreckers were not going to lie down and take defeat from either team again.
“We knew we were up for a big challenge, but we also knew that we definitely had a shot,” said captain Callie Hiner ’12. “The key to success was playing our hearts out and wanting every ball more than they did.”
The Wreckers did just that against Darien and took their regular season 3-2 loss, and turned it into a 1-0 FCIAC semi-final win.
“During preseason we made it our goal to be the first team to beat Darien, and to win FCIACs, so we’ve always believed this could be accomplished,” said captain Blaney Rotanz ’12.
Along with the team’s heart and dedication, Rotanz attributes both wins to the team’s equally strong offensive and defensive lines.
Despite the Wreckers’ talented lineup, the team still flew under the radar into the FCIAC tournament, and competed as the underdogs.
“I don’t think Darien took us seriously from the beginning,” said captain Emily Ashken ’12. “We were very focused and in the zone during our warm up, but when we looked over at their warm up it didn’t really look like they were worried at all.”
Staples took the confidence they gained from beating Darien, and used it to overcome the Wilton Warriors 2-1 in the FCIAC final, to become champions.
“We proved that if you want something bad enough, you can make it happen,” Hiner said.
Although the team has reached two major milestones, they are still not satisfied and continue to set higher goals.
“The first thing Emily Ashken said to me after we won was ‘Now it’s time for states,’” Rotanz said. “Just because we won FCIACs doesn’t mean we’re giving up, were going all the way.”
The team will continue practicing this week until their first round of states on Sunday when they will play Hall High School in West Hartford.
“We have to refocus for states and realize that it is another tournament where we will be competing against really great teams,” Hiner said. “But we’ve proved to our selves that we have the drive to accomplish our dreams.”