Beginning the season as defending state champs is always exciting, yet the Haddam-Killingworth field hockey squad made it a little sweeter for its coach.

The Cougars opened their campaign on Sept. 10 as hosts to non-conference foe Canton and came away with a 4-2 victory. Even better than beginning 1-0, HK Head Coach Patsy Kamercia (in her 38th year with the Cougars) notched her 400th career win—as she is now included with the likes of current Branford Head Coach Cathy McGuirk (490), along with retired coaches in Pomperaug’s Linda Dirga (434) and Arlene Salvati with Cheshire (419 wins).

“It feels great to accomplish this 400th win,” said Kamercia, who will also be inducted into the Connecticut Field Hockey Hall of Fame next month. “It’s been a lot of great years with a lot of great coaches working with me. The main success comes from the all the talented players I’ve coached over the years. I think back to when I started with the Haddam Junior High School at the time, looking through the whole process and being on the other side of it now, I feel so blessed to be in this great situation from the beginning.”

Despite its program only capturing a pair of wins a year ago, Canton gave the reigning Class S state champions all they could handle at home, as it trailed by only one goal with less than 10 minutes to play. Including its crucial tally by junior Danielle Roman from senior Allison Sheahan (3 assists), HK saw a goal from senior Kiley Anderson and a pair from junior Julia Babbitt.

“Being a part of Coach Kamercia reaching her milestone of 400 wins was amazing,” said Anderson. “She lives and breathes HK field hockey and has put her heart and soul into the program since she first started it. Once they scored their stroke and got within one goal, we all huddled together and said, ‘We have to buckle down and get this win for Coach’, because we knew how much it meant for her to get her 400th win at home. Being a part of this will be something that I will always remember and cherish.”

The Cougars (1-0) didn’t want to give their coach a long wait to reach her personal milestone, so the scoring began three minutes into the matchup with Anderson sending one home on a penalty corner to give HK a 1-0 lead. Yet the Warriors (0-1) would did not lay down easily, as they responded with an equalizer into the cage five minutes later.

“We were very excited to get on the board first,” Kamercia said. “It was great to be in that position, but then they scored. At that point, we realized it was going to be a game.”

HK responded to its guest’s challenge when Babbitt got involved through a tally of her own with 17:30 remaining before the break, as the Cougars would take a 2-1 edge heading into halftime.

Starting the second, the Cougars kept the pressure on with Babbitt again crashing the cage through her signature reverse flip shot to give the home squad some breathing room three minutes into the period.

“Julia just loves to use that type of shot,” said Kamercia. “It was very rewarding for her and all of us to see the ball go in on that shot.”

Canton would get back into it, though, after taking advantage of a defensive scramble in front of the HK goal. Sophomore netminder Meghan Cerino dove for the ball on her right hand side, yet the Warriors found the open space to bring it back to a one-tally game with nine minutes to play.

“We came together as a team, because we knew how much this would mean to Coach,” said Sheahan. “The game wasn’t an easy one to play, but we did what we had to do to get the win. She is an amazing coach and always putting her players first, so I am happy to have watched her achieve this milestone.”

While she collected a trio of dishes, Sheahan would save her best pass for last. She first shot a strong attempt that went off the right post before Roman was ready for the rebound to cash in on much-needed insurance for HK, as it went up 4-2 with two minutes left and rode out the final moments toward Kamercia’s coronation into the 400-win club.

“Once we got that fourth goal, we could breathe again,” said Kamercia. “I felt that Canton played well; they have a lot of talent. They had some great passing and gave us a good game.”

The Cougars would suffer a loss—their first since Sept. 27 of last year— at Class L opponent Simsbury by a 2-1 decision on Sept. 12. With the score knotted at one and eight minutes to play, Simsbury shot home the game-winner.

“We had some major defensive breakdowns toward the end, but we played right with them,” said Kamercia. “We know they are a good team, and the games we have with them are always competitive. It’s good for our kids to see that level of competition.”

Even with her group starting off on the winning foot, Kamercia knows this will be a campaign of great change after HK graduated seven senior starters from last year’s championship club. But she knows that the athletes in front of her are still fully capable of putting the pieces together.

“We still have a jigsaw puzzle with our lineup, because we have a lot of spots to fill in,” said Kamercia. “We are a working progress, yet we are moving along. We have to constantly make adjustments, and we want the players to work well with each other. We will be in this stage for most of the season I think, as we have a lot more work to do. They are the best group of girls to work with; they have a great attitude and work hard. I can’t say enough about them all.”