With strong senior leadership on the field and in the huddle, the Conant field hockey team is off to a promising start this fall under new head coach Sarah Graage.

The Orioles picked up their first win of the year Thursday afternoon in Jaffrey with a 1-0 win over Kearsarge that could have easily been a wider margin with a few more favorable bounces or calls. 

"They played really well," Graage said after the game. "They played more than a 1-0 game."

Conant dominated possession throughout the game, with senior co-captain Maddie Bergeron patrolling the top of the midfield and senior co-captain Graecen Kirby right behind her atop the defense to make things difficult for visiting, physical Kearsarge. 

"Maddie and Graecen are tremendous players, and they're great leaders on the field,” Graage said.

Once they gained control, the Orioles moved the ball up to Violet Bennett, Sophia Spingola, Emily Battisti and seniors Meg Newton and Ella Weinhold, who were able to put the pressure on the Cougars. 

"Our passing today was pretty spot on," Bergeron said. 

The Orioles won the corner battle by a wide margin, but failed to convert directly off any of them; Bergeron admitted that Conant held back some of their better corner plays to conceal them from their Mascenic rivals watching from the bleachers. 

Conant's mission was to score off a lifted shot, and they did so in the first half, when Newton deflected and redirected a ball in for her first goal of the year. 

"[Newton] is just a tremendous athlete," Graage said. "Sticks with everything. She wins her one-on-ones."

Two more first-half goals, including another Newton beauty, were waved off as illegal, so the Orioles carried their slim 1-0 margin the entire game. With seniors Hailey Dubois and Katy Weidner protecting the net on defense, Kearsarge didn't have many opportunities to score. Their best shot was the only one that got past Conant senior keeper Abby Quill, but Khloe Kirby swooped in for a defensive save to keep the Orioles ahead.

Teammates named Khloe player of the game for her heroics and dogpiled Quill at the final buzzer. 

"Abby did great," Bergeron said. "She always stays strong through the game. She's kind of our backbone."

Graage said she was a "solid, keen" field hockey player in her high school days at Loomis Chaffee, but hasn't played or coached in the decades thereafter. She inherits a program left in good shape by departing head coach Jackie Brown, who returned the Orioles to relevance in her five years in Jaffrey before joining Keene State as an assistant, where she now coaches former Conant star Elizabeth Gonyea.

With the structures already in place, Graage can turn to her seven returning seniors to help run practices or make on-the-fly adjustments. 

"She's adjusting well," Bergeron said. "She's taking my and Graecen's word. She's trusting us."

After Thursday's win and Monday's season-opening loss to last year's Division III runner-up Bishop Brady, Conant is at 1-1 and heading up to Stevens (1-0) Tuesday. If the Orioles can continue to work as a unit, trust their experience and stick together, they have the makings of a playoff team this fall. 

"I think togetherness is probably the biggest strength," Graage said. "We're small, but we're strong."