Malden High’s Field Hockey team finished their season last week with a 1-0 win against Everett at Madeline English School, with Kenny Nguyen scoring the lone goal. This win brought their overall record for the season to 4-11-3.
Last season, while they had great players and played well, the Varsity team were unable to win a single game. Through the help and leadership of first-year coach Samantha Souza, the team has drastically improved and it has shown through their performances and their attitude. Senior Captain Mei Mei Zhang described this season as “extremely successful” this year, winning about 3-4 games is “great compared to last season.”
A terrific aspect of this Field Hockey team is not only how they performed on the field, but how they communicated and bonded off it as well.“Our team has grown so close with each other from our coaches to every player on the team,” says Zhang.
One of the games that defined the season for the Field Hockey team is their 1-1 tie against Revere. During this game, a storm began. When lighting began to strike, the referee ended the game during the second half much to the disappointment of Malden, who were itching for a comeback. Zhang described the experience as “wanting to make us play even more.”
This season has been led by a variety of players, such as offensive forwards Nguyen and Ashley Giang. Both players have led the teams in goals, while also working together to bring the ball up the field. Another notable component of this team is senior defender and Blue and Gold Managing Editor of Photography and Design Jesaias Benitez, who played a terrific game against Revere and was essential in sweeping the ball across the field numerous times.
Even though the team has improved drastically, there is always room for improvement. Nguyen believes that “the team could have been more aggressive with the ball and [attempted] to go to the ball more than either being passed to.” Zhang also had similar concerns. “There are always things that the team and myself can improve on,” Zhang says. One of the those is communication, “the talking on the field could be improved if [they] shouted and constantly communicated with each other.”
Overall after a season of up and downs, there was more positives than negatives. Compared to last season, the team now has more of a winning mentality and with the amount of talent the team has, it can only improve from here.
“[He] know[s] that [they] will work a thousand times harder than [they] did last year, and with the seniors leaving, that puts a lot of the weight and pressure on the remaining varsity players and on the next captains, however [he is] sure [they will] rise to the occasion,” Nguyen concluded.
