“The moment that we won felt like all of our hard work throughout all of our three seasons [all came together].” –Caroline Kinsherf ’25, Senior Sweeper, Center Back
For our FGR Women’s Field Hockey team, competition this fall season has not always been easy, but it has been rewarding. Following an 7-0 Catholic League Championship win against Sacred Heart, our field hockey girls are nothing short of determined heading into the playoffs. Sitting down in interviews with field hockey seniors, it is evident that this win was something they strove for.
The first year the team won the Cardinal CHSL Championship (2020) was the first time in school history. Having that under their belt, the team exhibited tenacity rather than pressure those next three years: a trait unique to our FGR athletes. Caroline Kinsherf ’25, a senior sweeper, says that in 2022 (her “sophomore year”), “we lost a lot of seniors, so we weren’t sure what our team was going to look like, so I think that winning that was a big milestone for us. Then, after we won the second one, [we] just kept getting more determined to keep winning.”
Senior player Stella Karbo ’25 remarks: “This year we played Sacred Heart a couple weeks before [the Championship game] and it was a really, really close game. We knew they were going to come out full force – so we were really united as a team in our goal, not even just to finish the four-peat but to beat this other team.”
Not only was this game special for the team, but it was also uniquely special for the players who had been there all along. Looking back, Jillian Dosch ’25 remarks on what the game against Sacred Heart meant to her personally: “It was really good, because they were really set to beat us. It felt so good to actually beat them full-force.”
Being prepared mentally and physically for the game required a week of strategic practice and the visualization of specific goals each player wanted to accomplish. “Before all of our games, we go around and huddle together and we say a personal goal and team goal, so I think we all had the team goal of beating Sacred Heart… but also hearing what everyone else said about what they were looking for in the team and what they were looking for personally and how we could support each other was really great,” Karbo states. Senior player Reese Woloszyn ’25 remarks: “There was a lot of mental preparation because we really were defending our three-peat. Just a lot of talking to myself, making sure I was in a good headspace because the team really needed to come together; everyone played an important part in getting the win. It was definitely the most close-knit we’ve ever played – the chemistry was so good, and there were so many connections on the field.”
Within a competition laden with expectations and tension, the girls reflected on who inspired them the most during the game. For senior Karbo, it is her sister, a junior. “I play left-mid and she plays right-mid, but this game she got switched to right-[defense], so she got switched back a position (which she plays for [our] club team, but it was a little bit different in a high-school environment). So, that was really inspiring just to see how she stepped up and became locked down and pushed me to succeed in my position as well.”
For Woloszyn, her coaches made a distinct impact: “They wanted this for us and wanted to put us in the best position to win. They were talking so positively and building us up during the game so we could keep going.”
For fellow seniors Dosch and Kinsherf, it’s Karbo. “She always plays with one hundred percent. She’s the foundation of our team, I would say,” Dosch states. Kinsherf shares the sentiment, stating: “I’ve played with her for four years – she’s been my warm-up buddy. She’s always really calm and collected, and I know she’s going to be there to receive the ball… she’s always there to just calm us down.”
As the fall field hockey season ends and the seniors bid their farewell, the seniors hope to give advice to the team they’re leaving behind. “Give everything you do your all. Always one hundred percent… don’t ever just not,” Dosch states. Adding on to her advice, Karbo says: “You can’t really control what the refs are doing, you can’t control what the other team is doing, anything else that your teammates might be doing or going through or not focusing, you can always focus and you can always try your best. You can always control your attitude, too.” Kinsherf concludes: “Avoid the drama. Stay tight-knit, because even if there’s not as much skill or you feel as though you’re falling behind, being able to be there for each other changes the whole dynamic. A lot of teams could have all the skill in the world, but if they’re not close, then they can’t play very well.”
Our FGR fourth pillar, Sportsmanship, radiates through this team’s uplifting nature. As games and practices for each season start to build, so too does camaraderie, teamwork, and determination – for all our FGR teams. They strive to become disciplined, sportsmanlike, kind, faithful, and community oriented. That is what it means to be FGR Irish.