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11/21/2014 11:00 PMWestbrook field hockey Head Coach Janet Dickey was a bit worried about the size of her squad entering the 2014 season. With only 14 players on the roster, she knew that health and conditioning could become huge factors. However, with just over a third of the roster being seniors, the extra field leadership helped Dickey’s squad to a 10-5-3-1 record, including berths in both the Shoreline Conference championship game and the Class S State Tournament.
“I think it was great. All of the seniors really stepped up beautifully this year and helped to lead the team in their own ways,” Dickey said. “They all worked hard together and worked with the younger ones to bring them all together.”
Defender Lili Dickey and midfielder Lydia Murphy were the two captains this season and brought their own special talents to the team. Lili Dickey, who was named the squad’s MVP and the conference’s MVP, as well as an All-Shoreline and All-State member, was the backbone, according to Coach Dickey, who’s also her mother. Coach Dickey called Lili the glue that held the group together throughout the season. Meanwhile Murphy, who received the Coaches’ Award, not only improved her game, according to the coach, but also provided great leadership both on and off the field.
The other seniors were forward Marianna Bean, defender Julia Honan, and goalie Brooke Amendola. Bean displayed great speed up front for the Knights and helped generate many attacking plays. She was greatly missed for the loss to North Branford in the Shoreline Conference final due to an injury. Amendola also received the Coaches’ Award and was an All-Shoreline member as she posted nine shutouts in the cage and played a big part of the team’s success. The keeper even improved her vocal game in terms of positioning her teammates in front of her while Honan was the true talker of the bunch.
“We referred to her as ‘Coach Honan’ as she would be saying things that we were mumbling on the sideline,” Coach Dickey said. “She was a vocal leader in our backfield on a defense that only allowed six goals in 11 Shoreline Conference games, including postseason.”
In total, Westbrook only allowed 16 goals and defeated perennial Shoreline power Haddam-Killingworth twice. On Oct. 3, the Knights won at HK 1-0 and topped the Cougars again on Oct. 23 at home, 2-1 in overtime, in a game that clinched the Knights their spot in the Shoreline Conference title game.
“HK is always a perennial powerhouse in our league. This group has never beaten them twice in one season. We’ve tied them, but never beaten them twice,” Dickey said. “That was the biggest thing all of them said to me because that’s the standard for which they set themselves by. They had such a respect for that team and the success of that team. So that was huge.”
Having 14 varsity players made life difficult at times for Coach Dickey and company as there were instances in which the squad couldn’t fully practice in fear that players would get injured.
“Our biggest obstacle was not having enough on the squad to actually scrimmage each other and keeping everyone healthy so we could be as competitive as possible,” Dickey said. “Toward the end, we had two impact players out with concussions and one just returning from two weeks out. So having no bench depth was a hindrance we had to consistently overcome.”
Still, Westbrook fought hard all season and played in the Shoreline final, taking a 2-0 loss to top seed North Branford. The Knights then played a home game in the Class S bracket and blanked Suffield 3-0 to continue their winning ways on their turf.
“We love our grass,” Coach Dickey said. “We were undefeated at home the last three years so that’s a huge deal. It was a wonderful game and a great momentum swinger.”
Unfortunately, the Knights fell to Granby 1-0 in the next round. It was a great game, according to Dickey, as Westbrook battled against a top-notch program and talented team. In the final moments of the contest, emotions started to set in for the coach as she realized that it was the final game for her daughter Lili as a Westbrook Knight.
“It’s bittersweet,” Coach Dickey said. “Lili is getting a lot of accolades, but when she was running across the field in the last stretch of the Granby game and I saw the last name Dickey on her uniform and I noticed it was going to be the final time seeing that, I tore up. It was emotional for the both of us.”
The current sophomore class is expected to step up in a big way for Westbrook next season. Lauren Kane was the Most Improved Player on the team and Alexa Mulvihill was the squad’s leading scorer with 15 goals and eight assists on her way to All-Shoreline and Second Team All-State selections.
Coach Dickey is also looking for Zoe Ehlert, Cassie Vitti, Katie Dowd, and Abby Lawrie to step up in 2015 and help the Knights put together another successful season.