How does junior captain Graecen Kirby describe her Oriole field hockey team? In a word, “Strong.” On Monday, Conant was strong enough to topple the Giants of Bishop Brady and start the NHIAA Division III season off with a big 5-1 win.
“We felt confident,” Kirby said, “and we just put all the puzzle pieces together and worked hard throughout the whole entire game. There wasn’t a minute where we slowed down or played down to them. We were strong throughout.”
Kirby and fellow captain Maddy Bergeron are part of the Orioles’ tough junior class, nine deep on the Conant roster, and those two kept Bishop Brady at bay in the midfield and defensive end to protect new starting goalkeeper Abby Quill, who allowed just the one first-period goal to Brady’s Kimble Rose. When it came to scoring, though, it was all about the team’s lone senior, Rylee Herr, who scored the first goal of the game and then put in another two down the stretch to secure the hat-trick and the 5-1 win.
Monday’s win was the first Conant victory over Bishop Brady since coach Jackie Brown took over the Oriole program in 2017, and the first time they’d scored five or more goals since 2020.
Brown acknowledged that the season-opener is a small sample size, but she liked what she saw on the scorching-hot, crispy Conant field on that 89-degree Monday afternoon.
“It’s game one, but it definitely helps our confidence to know that we can play against a team like Brady, who are always good and have huge numbers and fresh legs every couple minutes,” Brown said.
Conant has just 14 players, which means minimal substitution options and even less position specificity off the bench.
“We’re a team that is going to have to play out of position sometimes in order to fill those gaps,” Brown said, “so a defender may not always be a defender or an offensive player may not always be an offensive player – that makes us versatile.”
The Orioles had a down year in 2021, missing the playoffs with a 2-11-1 record, but things are already looking promising this fall. With the scrappy softball third baseman Herr on one side of the opponent’s net and freshman ice hockey forward Sophia Spingola on the other, the Orioles have a pair of attackers who aren’t afraid to mix it up in those goal-mouth scrambles.
“We are hungry on the offensive line this year,” Brown said.
Spingola punched in her first career goal in the third period.
“All the younger girls, just seeing them step up and play, working hard to their ability, is just super cool to see,” Kirby said.
Conant’s other tally came in the second period off the stick of Ella Weinhold, who slammed a shot into the crease that went ricocheting skyward with a high enough arc to render it indefensible as it passed just under the Brady crossbar on the way down.
Conant (1-0) is at Kearsarge Thursday.