Nauset Field Hockey Goalkeeping, Defense Holds Out Against Barrage

NORTH EASTHAM – Against an absolute salvo launched by Sandwich last Friday, the Nauset field hockey team’s defense held defiantly firm.

Sandwich neatly controlled possession virtually the entire game in the 5-0 loss for the Warriors, but the final score belies the resistance put up by Nauset in front of the goal. 

Sophomore goalkeeper Cecilia Hand made 33 saves, and the Nauset defense faced 45 shots and 26 penalty corners. It’s Hand’s first year playing goalie. At the beginning of the year, she didn’t even know how to put on her goalie pads. It took two weeks, but she got the gist — of both the pads and the position.

“I'm just super proud of her,” head coach Tia Raspante said. “She's come a long way through the season, and when we need her the most, she shows up.”

Against a fast, aggressive Sandwich team that pushes the ball forward, Nauset held the Blue Knights to one score in the first quarter, two in the second, and one each in the third and fourth, which Raspante said showed her that Nauset didn’t give up.

“It shows that we were fighting the whole time through, so I think that's important, and I think it's something that we've been working on, is completely just staying positive and fighting hard through the whole game, and that's what they did, and so I'm proud of them,” she said.

Hand, a transfer from Monomoy, faced pressure all game, making save after save — often using her legs to shoo the ball away from the goal. 

“I'm just trying to see where the ball is, because it's really hard to see where the ball is when everyone's crowded in front of you,” she said. “So I'm just trying to peek through and try to see as much as I can to stop it.”

Said senior forward Chloe Hand, Cecilia’s older sister: “I thought she played very well. I thought she was aggressive. She really attacked the ball and got it out really well. This is definitely one of her best games.”

After the defensive performance put up by Cecilia Hand and the Warriors’ corner unit against Sandwich, the next step was to figure out how to get the ball to the offensive end of the field. Senior captain Callie Murphy said the game showed what they were “capable of.”

“I think our main strengths are working together well, connecting with each other and staying positive,” senior captain Mira Gerardi also said. “I think those are really big, because you can have a skilled team, but you could still be yelling at each other, and we make it fun and we work really well as a team.”

Nauset stood at 2-5 on the year after a loss Monday to St. John Paul II. The Warriors visit Monomoy, a top contender in Division 4, on Thursday. Nauset went 7-8-3 in 2024, good for the No. 26 seed in the Division 3 tournament, in Raspante’s first season as head coach. 

“We're definitely building as a team together, and each game we get better and better,” Chloe Hand said.