Sarah Hughes’ voice takes on a thoughtful tone as she describes her Central Bucks South field hockey team.
“I just think we have a really nice group of girls, and everyone loves field hockey,” the Titans’ senior co-captain said. “We all want to do it for each other. Honestly, we’re not in this for ourselves.
“The definition of team is what we are. We all work together, we all love each other, and we all respect each other as individuals.”
The Titans rode that team concept to an SOL National Conference title as well as a District One Class AAA crown, and if it seems as though all this talk about camaraderie might just be lip service, guess again.
Listen only to co-captain Kate Schneider.
“First off, it’s an honor to be a captain of such a great team,” the senior defensive back said. “Honestly, I have never been part of a team that has such chemistry and such love for each other.
“Everybody says you always want to have fun, but we really do have fun, and we work hard too. That’s something you can’t find on every team, and it’s something special we all bring to the table.
“We’re friends on and off the field. We ‘get’ each other, and it’s just unbelievable to be part of a team like that. It’s just amazing.”
It was the senior so-captains who delivered a speech on the bus ride to Saturday’s title game against Owen J. Roberts.
“My captains are driven, and they drive everyone else on the team,” coach Christina Ford said. “They’re what gave us team chemistry.”
That combination of perfect chemistry and an abundance of talent propelled the Titans to a district title run that culminated with their 3-0 win over the Wildcats on Saturday.
When asked the key to her team’s storybook season, Ford credited all four of her seniors – Hughes, Schneider, Liz Lewallen and Lindsay Osgood.
“My seniors are my leaders of this team,” the first-year coach said. “They lead by example. They’re the ones that hold the team together and keep everyone focused on the field.”
Each of the four seniors has their own one-word explanation for the Titans’ remarkable success.
“Trust,” Hughes said.
“Chemistry,” Schneider said.
“Passion,” Osgood added.
“Determination,” said Lewallen.
It was a combination of all four that led the Titans to heights few would have predicted when they lost five key players from last year’s district runner-up squad to graduation.
“We’re the ones that set the expectations for ourselves because no one was really expecting us to get this far,” Schneider said.
No one, that is, except the players.
“In the beginning of the season, coach had us sit down and list our goals for the team,” Schneider said. “Our goals were – win SOLs and win Districts, and we did those. Our third goal is to win a state championship, and if we win that, it’s even better, but where we are right now – we’re happy. If we win states, it would be a compete dream.
“I think by setting our expectations ourselves we held ourselves to a higher standard, and that’s what made us work really, really hard. We wanted to prove to everybody that we are a great team. I think we got our message across this year.”
Interestingly, all four seniors play in the defensive backfield.
Lewallen is a former field player who went into the cage as a sophomore jayvee player when the Titans needed a goalie. She split time last year for the varsity but won the job outright this season.
“This year I told the goalies from the beginning I didn’t want to split time,” Ford said. “I wanted one goalie, and Liz stepped it up. One of the reasons we are where we are is because of our goaltending.
“She’s done a tremendous job.”
Lewallen came up with a big stop of a rocket on a Wildcat corner 10 minutes into Saturday’s title game.
“If they would have scored, that would have definitely been a different game,” Ford said. “It was not a game we dominated.”
Hughes is the Titans’ steady left back who does battle with the opposing team’s top player on the right side.
“Sarah Hughes is a presence on the field,” Ford said. “She’s aggressive with a go-get-them attitude. She sets the tone for the rest of the team. She’s very stick skilled and can keep teams from coming down that side.
“She also is great at transition, and I think it gives confidence to our team that with Sarah back there – she’s going to be a strong defender, she’s going to play smart, and she’s going to move the ball up for us.”
Playing opposite Hughes on the right side is Schneider.
“She’s a very consistent player,” Ford said. “She’s another aggressive, hard worker who will never stop, and she’ll make big plays for us.
“They’re both smart players, they’re both solid. They know what it takes to get this done, and they both want it.”
Osgood is a reserve back who was sidelined her entire junior season with an injury but stayed with the team and has contributed this season.
“Lindsay is very dedicated,” Ford said. “She came out her senior year and has been working to improve her stick skills. She has great field awareness.”
Together the four seniors have provided the backbone of a squad that put its name in the history books by capturing the school’s first ever district title in field hockey.
“We all wanted this more than anything,” Lewallen said. “We wanted to prove we could come back after last year.”
“No one thought we could be better than our team last year,” Osgood said of a Titan squad that fell to Neshaminy in the district title game.
All but forgotten was the seamless transition of Ford, a former assistant, taking over the helm for Meg Hutchinson, who is on sabbatical.
“Coach Hutchinson made this program fantastic, and I had no doubt that Miss Ford would carry on that same tradition,” Schneider said. “Miss Ford did a great job this year. I respect her 112 percent.
“She’s so nice, so positive, and so was coach Hutchinson. Ford was underneath Hutchinson last year, and by having that kind of coach step in, it was just a perfect match.”
The defining point of the season, according to the captains, was the Titans’ 2-0 win over Hatboro-Horsham on the Hatters’ senior day. They have won nine of 10 games since then.
“Hatboro was the team everyone was talking about,” Hughes said. “After we beat them, we were like, ‘Wow, we can do this.’”
“From then on, we all had our heads in the same place,” Schneider said. “We have all been on the same page, and that’s what has been so helpful, and I think that’s really what led us to our success.
“Our attitude coming off the Hatboro-Horsham game was ‘We can do this, and we’re not going to let anyone get in our way.’”
The Titans stubbed their toes against Souderton in the final week of the regular season but haven’t lost since, capping their successful run through districts with Saturday’s 3-0 win over Owen J. Roberts in the title game.
“After winning, it came to me that ‘Wow, this doesn’t happen often,’” Hughes said. “Seriously, this is what most teams dream of, and it just kind of hit me after we won.
“I knew it was really important, but it wasn’t until after the game that I actually experienced the feeling, ‘Wow, this is what we worked for.’”
“Honestly, I’m speechless,” Schneider said. “I’m still in shock we did it. Everybody’s mindset was to win that game, and that was what we did.
“We weren’t expected to win SOLs, but we did. We weren’t expected to win districts, but we did. It’s great as a senior because it’s my last year. God knows where I’m going in the future, and it’s just awesome that we ended on such a good note.”
The season isn’t over yet. The Titans open district play on Tuesday when they will face Cocalico, the fifth seeded team from District 3, at Wissahickon at 6 p.m. Whatever the outcome, it’s been quite a season.
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