Fresh off of a 4-2 victory against Wayne Valley on September 12, the WHHS Field Hockey team aims for their fourth consecutive county title.

This is the year for new beginnings. They started off the year with new varsity coach Jacquelynn Giammetta, who coached the freshman team last year. Rayna Caruso, varsity softball coach, is now taking her spot as freshman coach.

“Being the varsity coach at Wayne Hills is an amazing opportunity,” Giammetta, a former field hockey state champion at WHHS said. “It’s where I developed a love for the game and now I get the privilege to coach my own team and help them develop the same passion I have for field hockey.”

In addition is returning coach Lisa Buschmann, administrative assistant to athletics in Wayne Hills. Buschmann played field hockey here in Wayne Hills as a goalie and continued on a field hockey scholarship at Villanova.

Seniors Rachel Vellis, Liz Byrne, and Amanda LaGuardia were named captains for the 2016 season. Goalie Vellis has an impressive 212 saves under her belt from last year alone, and LaGuardia has already scored seven goals in the past three games this season, according to NJ.com.

Two-time varsity captain Byrne has one goal for this year: to play like a team. Byrne said “winning is always fun and definitely important, but if our team gives 100 percent every game there is honestly nothing more to ask for.”

Wayne Magazine did a spread on the team about their win at counties last year.  “It was an honor to be featured in the magazine.” says Byrne, “Field hockey is a sport that sometimes doesn’t get enough recognition so it was nice that our team was able to be mentioned and written about. Counties is always a tournament that I look forward to. I like a lot of people on the team and I’m very competitive so this tournament is always a great opportunity to show everyone what we can do.”

The team looks to improve when they travel to Northern Highlands on Wednesday, September 21 and at home on Friday, September  23 against Northern-Valley Demarest at 4:00.