Rocky Hill enjoys success in new conference

The Rocky Hill field hockey team entered the 2024 fall season with high hopes in its new conference, as it switched from the RIIL to NEPSAC. The Mariners saw immediate success and managed to reach the conference finals before falling to Mount St. Charles in the championship game.
Getting off to a strong start in preseason really helped the players gel in the early going, according to coach Traci Fairchild.
“This season was a solid showing for our first season in NEPSAC where we learned a lot and grew stronger as a team each week. Preseason, as it usually does for us, consisted of a balance of fitness, team bonding and coming together as one varsity team with players at varying skill levels. Our size school consistently fields one varsity team, and without a JV it is imperative to get all players stepping up to the highest level as fast as possible. This balance is often what makes us such a tightly bonded team as our four year varsity starting seniors understand that we are only as competitive as our newest of players including pulling up three talented eighth graders to swing up to varsity,” said Fairchild.
Fairchild was especially proud of the team’s steady improvement throughout the year.
“We showed up strong early with some wins in scrimmages against local public schools including Pilgrim and Chariho. In conference games, we took each one in stride against our new opponents focusing on what we needed to do to put the ball in net which proved more challenging in some games versus others. Overall, we were proud of our progression from August to November. We went 1-1 with Mount St Charles in regular season so with our big OT win again Lexington Christian Academy in the conference semifinals, we were able to rematch Mount on their turf one more time to close out our season. Though the game didn’t swing our way, our players including our core group of seniors, walked off the field proud to have REP’ed another season 'The Mariner Way' with Resiliency, Effort and Pride,” said Fairchild.
Two key seniors this season were Katie O’Neil (Warwick) and Ariana Hernandez (Cranston). The defensive duo was critical in terms of leadership and playing shut down field hockey the past three years.
“Both Katie O’Neil and Ariana Hernandez as four year starting varsity defenders, both with back to back RIIL state championships under their belts as 9th and 10th graders, have a career to be most proud of. Our five seniors were the true heart of this team, each bringing a different and unique leadership quality to better their team. Katie was a thoughtful and kind senior who always knew how to lift up another teammate, especially our younger or newer players. And Ariana led by example with consistency in attitude and effort on and off the field each day. They will be missed,” said Fairchild, who hopes the Mariners learn and grow from their first season in NEPSAC. “Next fall, we are gearing up to rematch some conference teams wiser in our second season of NEPSAC and look forward to taking advantage of all we have learned this year.”