First Year Coach Hoping to Get Team Back into Tournament

By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

Two years ago, the Bellingham Field Hockey team earned a berth in the Division 4 State Tournament for the first time in many a years. Unfortunately, the inexperienced Blackhawks (27 seed) fell to Cohasset 5-1 in the first round and their post-season came to a quick end. 

Julianne Kilduff was coaching the Junior Varsity squad that year, but now, a few years later, she is taking over as Bellingham’s varsity coach and wants to bring back 2021 in terms of tournament play, but with a different outcome.

 “The girls have worked extremely hard all summer long, and I am hoping that it continues into the season,” the first-year varsity coach said. “Their enthusiasm has been high, and the captains really stepped up to get this team ready; it shows their dedication to the upcoming season.”

The Blackhawk captains, who have looked to get this squad prepared for the year were senior Nina Ames (forward / midfielder) and juniors Mallory Berkeley (goalie) and Alyssa Forget (midfielder). According to Kilduff, the trio not only got the girls involved during the summer, but they got them to commit to two practices and participate in some summer league games. 

 “The three of them really stepped up,” Kilduff said. “I am grateful for what they did as I really don’t know what I have as an overall team and with the players who best fits where within the system.”

 “Nina is an individual who can be found everywhere on the field; up and down, and along with Alyssa, the two communicate and pass really well,” the coach said. “Mallory can see the entire field from her goalie position, so she is going to be a big part of communicating on the field. She’s our eyes and ears and can see it all,”

Communicating on and off the field is going to be a key component to starting the season off on the right foot. In the past, Kilduff noted that there have been games where the team has fallen behind early and get discouraged. This year, the new coach wants to nip that scenario in the bud right away, so that the team doesn’t find themselves too far behind and looking at a giant hole to climb out of.

In addition to Ames, Bellingham will also have two other seniors in forward Cammy Bartlett and defender Olivia Holbrook to help guide the younger players into the future. Last fall, Bartlett was able to help with the scoring, but the coach is hoping that she takes her game to the next level and gets the Blackhawks on the scoreboard early. While Kilduff is looking to Bartlett to provide the team with some offense, Holbrook will be relied upon to continue to provide strength on the defensive side of the field and shout out directions to the younger players.

The entire defense has definitely shown that they can work well together despite having lost a couple of hard working and important pieces to graduation. Anya Stojanowski and Abby Pelletier, along with Holbrook should be able to get the backfield pumped up and ready to play.

Although still early, Kilduff believes that this team has communicated well together and will be able to successful when they put forth an entire team effort while moving the ball down the field with a flow.

Offensively, the Cormier sisters, junior Abby, and freshman Molly, both looked very strong and worked quite well together, not only moving the ball, but being able to score. Cassidy Leger can go left to right with just one pass and has shown the coach she can move the ball with relative ease. With her skillful ability on the field, the junior should be able to get the team moving in the right direction toward the opposition’s goal. 

Kilduff will be sending a strong junior and senior class onto the field this fall with a lot of leaders, who are all eager to help out both on and off the field hoping to make this a successful year. According to the Coach, they all love the game of field hockey and are willing to do whatever they can. Bellingham will also have a total of seven newcomers (2 freshman and 5 eighth graders) all looking to learn the game while helping the team.

Playing in the Tri-Valley League, with a good number of larger schools than Bellingham, Kilduff wants to establish a high presence on the field while letting the opposition know that they will not be a pushover team.

 “Going up against bigger teams can be tricky to deal with. We just need to establish ourselves early and make the right moves when needed to,” Kilduff said. “Every team has its ups and downs; I’m hoping that this year Bellingham’s is up. If we continue to work together we will succeed.