The Brookfield High School field hockey team (0-2, 0-1) lost its second straight game to open the season, this time falling to South-West Conference rival Immaculate (1-0,1-0) in its home opener 1-0. The tightly played contest was decided at the 26:51 mark of the second half when the Lady Mustangs were able to slip a shot by the Lady Bobcats goaltender Rachel Deutch.
The Lady Bobcats had their best scoring opportunities shortly after Immaculate scored but they failed to capitalize on two corners off of penalties.
"We only had two corners," Bethany Norton, the former JV coach who is now the head Varsity coach, said. "We need to score when we have those chances."
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Coming off a substandard season that saw them finish 3-11-0-2, the Lady Bobcats are looking to turn things around with a senior led team. The roster is filled with 11 seniors, including team captains Becca Case (MF), Krista Melchione (F) and Morgan O'Dell (MF).
"With three Captains and 11 seniors we are looking for leadership on and off the field to make this a successful season for everyone," Norton said.
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Immaculate controlled possession for the early stages of the first half but as the game wore on Brookfield was able to move the ball well into their own offensive end. They were unable to get enough pressure on the Lady Mustangs net however to break through with a goal.
"We played much better then last night," Norton said in reference to their performance on the road the night before. "We had our chances."
Coach Norton was pleased with the team's performance during the pre-season and pointed to how well they played during the Jamboree Labor Day Weekend event held at the high school.
"We are pleased with how the team played throughout the day against teams we will see throughout the season," she said. "We have an optimistic outlook for this season and are hoping to be in the top eight in the SWCs and make it to states with a least 40 percent of our 16 regular season games as wins, which we were unable to do last year."
Although the team has 11 seniors, the coach still feels they have work to do on becoming more of a team unit.
"We are working on melding together," she said adding that many of the players haven't been playing together for long.
Brookfield finds itself in a difficult conference, which will make it tough for them to break through. Their next game will be at home agianst crosstown rival Newtown on Tuesday.
"As always, the SWC is a strong conference with some great teams," Norton said.
