Solebury field hockey excited about future

It was an exciting year for the Solebury School field hockey team.
The Spartans opened up the season with a 5-2 victory over Morrisville, their first win in recent memory.
They notched a second victory over Morrisville later in the year, shutting out the Bulldogs, 2-0.
Those triumphs helped to build confidence in a program that is changing under the guidance of first-year head coach Juliet Dillon.
“I’m really excited to see how this team develops over the next couple of years,” said Dillon, who was an assistant for two seasons before taking over as the head coach. “Our team has improved drastically over the last few years. We won our first game in like 10 years this year and we’ve been scoring goals so I am just so excited for the future.”
The Spartans did not compete in 2020 due to the pandemic.
“We practiced but we had no games,” Dillon said. “They were excited to play games this year so I think that the excitement is what drove them to play. Last year we were really just trying to condition them so this year it’s really been a lot of technical stuff. Also, this year we have a lot of new girls, which is great because we can start them off the way we want them.
“We lost a year of development as a team and we started a volleyball program this year so we lost a couple of girls to that too but we have a great team. They’re really cohesive, and that’s what we want.”
Junior captain Daniella Shore agreed that the lost season was a setback.
“It was really difficult,” said Shore, who also plays basketball and lacrosse for Solebury School. “I was really upset because I thought we had a good team so it’s like we missed a chance. We had a lot of practices but no games and that was tough because I thought we had more potential on that team than we’d had in a long time. We missed a chance to grow together as a team.
“I was so happy to get back to playing games. We have a lot of new players who are really good, like Ruby, so we have a lot of young, good players and we have girls who have been here for four years so we have a good team now and it was our first time winning a game in a long time.

“That was awesome. It never really matters about winning for us, but I feel like for it to be the first time in so long, it was a real accomplishment.
“I’m so excited for next year. I can’t wait to see what we can do.”
It is the first year on the team for freshman Ruby Marcus.
“This was a really fun year,” said Marcus, who also plans to play softball for the Spartans. “I went to camp here so I’ve been at Solebury School all my life, but I honestly didn’t plan on coming to school here. I thought I was going to public school, but I’m glad I’m here because the community is amazing.
“Our team is just one big family, and I love it. Being on this team really helped me with the transition to high school. They were so welcoming. I didn’t feel intimidated at all, and it made me feel like I had friends at the school.
“I really see a lot of potential in our team and I’m excited to be here. We have some really good players and we work as a team.”
Senior Sami Cavallone transferred from a school in North Carolina.
“Last year was my first year with the team,” said Cavallone, who also runs track. “My previous high school didn’t have field hockey, but I had previous experience in middle school and my freshman year.
“It’s nice to be here and back playing. Last year was a weird year with us having no games but we worked hard and worked as a team so it was still good for us. The team is getting better and I feel really good about being a part of that.
“One of the beauties of a small school is that everyone gets a chance to participate. We had some girls who never played before and it’s great to see how much they’ve improved.
“I’m really glad I had this chance to play.”

---

Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.