With the start of the school year on the horizon, that can only mean one thing: field hockey season. The Lady Raiders are trying to bounce back from a 5-13 campaign last season. The team has a host of new, young players who can hopefully make an impact this year alongside the veteran girls on the squad.

“Returning players Nicole Fortunato, Amanda Donnelly, Payton Altman, Katie Kozimbo and Jena Myers will surely bring their experience and game knowledge to the table this season,” head coach Jennifer Puritz said.

Along with their returning talent, they have two new sophomores hoping to make a difference. Despite being the only sophomores playing varsity level competition, they girls were placed on the team for a reason.

“We are very excited to have some new sophomores on the varsity team this year,” Puritz said. “Both Olivia Halverson and Heather Suraci will be an asset to this team for the next few years.”

With 11 seniors graduating, most of the team had to find their new strengths. However, this was not the case for the defensive line, who is returning most of their players. Juniors Emily Chu and Jena Myers, and senior Cassidy Bayer are all key assets to the team.

“I think one of our main strengths this year is our defensive line,” Chu said. “We have a lot of experienced players at those positions.”

Puritz and the Raiders hope to get redemption from last yea’rs defeats. She is not too worried about a certain opponent, but wants to get revenge against teams that got the best of them.

“We have a bit of a tough schedule this season, but always look forward to playing teams that have beat us in the past,” Puritz said. “Hopefully, the team will use their past experiences to fuel their desire to play hard.”

The Raiders hope to start the season off strong against a very good Bridgewater-Raritan Panthers team.