To come up with championship hardware in a season takes defying odds and defeating many opponents along the way. Despite the Old Saybrook field hockey team falling short of that goal, the Rams can still look back on their 2023 season with pride in the product they put together on the field.

After a regular season in which Old Saybrook finished at 13-2-1, the Rams found themselves as the No. 2 seed in the Shoreline Athletic Conference (SLC) Tournament. After earning a hard-fought, 1-0 victory over No. 3 Haddam-Killingworth in the semifinals on Oct. 30, Old Saybrook ran into top-seeded North Branford in the final on Nov. 2, taking a 2-1 defeat.

Determined to make an even deeper run on the state circuit, the Rams found themselves as the No. 4 seed in the Class S State Tournament. Starting with the first round on Nov. 7, the Rams hosted 13th-seeded Haddam-Killingworth, an all-too familiar opponent, and defeated the visitors 3-0. Advancing to the quarterfinal on Nov. 9, Old Saybrook played host to No. 5 Immaculate, where the squad’s season came to an end after they took a 4-1 loss.

Rams Head Coach Nancy Gatta, who has been coaching the squad since 2018, reminisced about her purpose for taking over on the coaching circuit, sharing that she wanted to rebuild a once-successful field hockey team that the town could be proud of.

“I have been the Varsity coach in Old Saybrook since 2018. At the time, I was in my 12th year as a Field Hockey Official. I had gotten phone calls and text messages from friends who had daughters who played on the Old Saybrook team, and the coach had quit three games into the 2018 season,” Gatta explained. “I knew that I needed to step in and help to build the program that I had once played for. I was a three-sport varsity athlete. During my time in Old Saybrook, I was a part of three state championship teams and Shoreline Championship teams. We won the state championship in field hockey in my junior and senior seasons, and I also won a state championship in softball in my junior year. We made it to the finals in softball during my senior year, but we lost in that final game. So I came back to the school where I had been able to create many friendships and had accomplished so much. I wanted to bring this feeling of pride and of winning back to this program.”

Five years later, Gatta can say she has formulated a team that was always ready to win and give 100%, an attitidue that started with the three captains in Amelia Sigermith (senior, forward), Leah Slisz, and Ayla D’Anna (junior, forward).

“Each of the three captains brought something unique to the team this year,” said Gatta. “They each have great qualities and they all worked well together. I relied on them so much this season, and they did not let me down.”

Adding even more to the leadership corps on the team were Kendall Dobratz (sophomore, centerfielder) and Erin Fiorelli (junior, goalkeeper).

“Even though Kendall is a sophomore, she was a very vocal leader on the team. Not only did she lead off the field, but she was also a leader on the field,” Gatta said. “Erin really stepped up this year after two senior goalies had graduated last year. She had a fantastic season.”

During the regular season, Old Saybrook’s two losses came against North Branford, and the tie was against Granby. Gatta noted that there were several other out-of-conference games that the team found to be competitive throughout the slate.

“We had some tough out-of-conference competition, with close games against Fitch, East Lyme, Granby, and Suffield. The game at Fitch was won with no time on the clock, on a goal by Kendall Dobratz on a corner. This was after we were down 1-0 for most of the game. We scored two goals in the fourth quarter to pull out the win,” said Gatta. “Granby was a game we played early in the season at Granby. They are always a tough team, and after regulation and then an overtime period we came away with a 0-0 tie. East Lyme has always been a tough out-of-conference game. We have not beaten them since 2018. We have always tied them. But, this year, we were able to pull out a solid victory in our last regular season game. Ayla D'Anna and Lila Cadley netted goals for us in this game. We traditionally have a tough conference here in the Shoreline. Westbrook, H-K, Valley, Morgan, and North Branford always give us some great competition.”

Several players were awarded Shoreline Conference awards for their efforts on the field in 2023, including Sigersmith (co-Player of the Year, First Team All-Shoreline, fourth in Shoreline Top Ten Points list), Dobratz (First Team All-Shoreline, third in Shoreline Top Ten points list), D’Anna (First Team All-Shoreline, fifth in Shoreline Top Ten Points list), Grace Desmond (Second Team All-Shoreline), Slisz (Second Team All-Shoreline), and Fiorelli (Second Team All-Shoreline). Gatta was awarded co-Coach of the Year, along with North Branford Head Coach Babby Nuhn.

Sigersmith and Dobratz were additionally named to the First Team Class S All-State team, with Gatta being awarded Class S Coach of the Year.

As Gatta reflects on a season she was proud of, she hopes to continue to gain an interest in field hockey within the younger age groups, because the numbers game has always been a challenge when it comes to the roster makeup of the Rams at the high school level.

“The challenges we face are not necessarily within the team, but the number of kids playing on the team. We have been trying for a few years now to get more interest in the sport at the middle school level. The program has been dropped because there are not enough girls signing up to play. We need some young girls to play this amazing sport,” said Gatta. “I would love to see the middle school offer tryouts or introduce this as a unit in gym class. When I was in middle school, we always had a field hockey unit, and the boys loved it as much as the girls did. There are so many opportunities to play field hockey beyond high school.”

Gatta also added that since starting to coach at Old Saybrook in 2018, she has seen at least six of her former players continue to play at the collegiate level or club team.

As Gatta and the Rams look ahead to next fall, she hopes to see her club learn and grow from their experiences this season, and pick up right where they left off in the state quarterfinals.

“I look forward to continuing where we left off. There will be some shoes to fill in losing three seniors. So some of the younger players will have a chance to step up and get some playing time,” said Gatta. “We will also be looking to make another run for the Shoreline Championship, and qualify for the state tournament again. We have many solid players returning, and I expect we will be a solid team to beat again in our conference.”

Gatta is assisted on the sidelines by Sarah Thompson and Alex Mulvhill (junior varsity coach).

The Rams roster is comprised of Libby Dunn (senior, defender), Sigersmith, Slisz, Lila Cadley (junior, midfielder), Tenzin Choedhar (junior, midfielder), D’Anna, Hanna DePuma (junior, forward), Grace Desmond (junior, midfielder), Fiorelli, Stephanie Rivera (junior, defender), Brooke Webb (junior, defender), Sydney Webb (junior, forward), Kathryn Demeulmeester (sophomore, defender), Dobratz, Emma Courtright (sophomore, midfielder/defender), Evie Gage (freshman, forward), Chelsea Garvey (freshman, forward), Olivia Gormley (freshman, midfielder), Julia Maselli (freshman, defender), and Vy Ngo (freshman, forward/midfielder).