Bel Air field hockey lost in last year’s Class 3A North Region I title game to Towson, but it gave the Bobcats a blueprint for what they needed to perfect entering 2024. They had to get faster, but also learn that speed isn’t necessarily key. Intentional off-ball movement and crisp facilitating can overcome a lack of size or quickness.
That’s what Bel Air set out to perfect. Its seniors trained over the offseason to improve their conditioning, which also let the team get right into working on actual field hockey when the team reunited this summer. Those early practices were focused on honing the fundamentals — “Where should I be when I don’t have the ball, and who should I look for when I do have it?”
Bel Air coach Megan Lukasavage and senior Paige Feick recently spoke with The Aegis about their season and what’s fueled the Bobcats’ 7-1 start.
Editor’s note: Some questions and answers are lighted edited for clarity and brevity.
How’s this season gone for you guys?
Lukasavage: I think our team has been working really hard on their passing game, and we’ve seen that really work and come to fruition in games, which has been really rewarding. We also have Paige Feick on our team, who is a really strong player. She gets the ball on goal for us a lot, and whether she sinks it or she has somebody else from the forward line or a midfielder finish the play, she just has a lot to do with being a playmaker on our team. Our competition is going to get stronger over the next two weeks, so I’m really interested to see how the team fares. I think they’ll do well, I just want to see it.
Feick: Personally, I think we’re doing even better than last year. I think we’re building our program up even more. Just focusing on the basics, passing and moving has helped our team. And I think actually the strength comes from our forward line pushing the ball up and then the midfield helping reinforce that ball pushing up. So I think just, the hustle, the team spirit and coaching the basics has helped our team improve.
The passing, is that something you feel wasn’t as strong last year or early on this season?
Lukasavage: Passing is something that we’ve always wanted them to do. It’s what makes the game. But I think when we spoke about putting it to the forefront of what we wanted to have happen for the team is to make conscious passes. These girls know you know to do a stick-to-stick pass. They know they have to look up and pre-screen. But getting them comfortable to do those things every time during the course of a game is sometimes hard. We’ve put a focus on that in practices and it seems to be working well.
What does that look like at practice?
Lukasavage: We do some positioning drills where we have our, even without defense, our backs feeding our middies, who feed our forwards. And talking about the cutting lanes they should be using so that a person with the ball has a good idea about where her teammate is. And then, of course, communicating when you’re in those places. We’ve worked a lot on cutting and how you should put yourself in the places where you should be on the field and you should know to go there. So it’s not just the girl with the ball passing, it’s really the people that are receiving need to make good, conscious decisions about where they’re going.
Bel Air field hockey’s Paige Feick has been a big part of the team’s hot start to the season. (Staff File)
What’s clicked for you guys in particular during this seven-game win streak?
Lukasavage: I think the energy level that the girls are bringing to the games is important. Sometimes when you play teams that aren’t as strong as you, you play down to them. The team hasn’t really been doing that. So they’ve come to play, and I think that’s been really useful. Especially as we’re kind of headed into teams that are going to be a little bit stronger, knowing that they’re going to bring that energy level with them is important. And sometimes it just gives us an opportunity to put people in different positions and see how they go there, see who’s jelling together and seeing who’s stronger in certain positions. So that’s been helpful, too. If we have a game where we’re up by a few goals, just getting people into different places and seeing where we can make their strengths shine through the best.
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Feick: Before every game, we don’t really look at scores or any of that because scores can change. So we just look at the team for what they are. We just come out, do what we practice, play to the best of our ability. We we don’t play down to their level because I don’t think it’s smart. When we play less talented teams that aren’t up to our level, we just play. We pass more, we work on the basics and we work on things we need to work on throughout practice. So implementing those basics we work on throughout the easier games helps us to focus.
What worked well in your 3-0 win over C. Milton Wright on Tuesday?
Feick: I think our team has been bonding really well this year. On the field, it shows how close we are. Our passes are connecting more. And I think most of all, we’re just a hustle team. So we get those hustle plays more than other teams. We hustle back on defense and we hustle up on offense. Just hustling around the field and hyping each other up on the bench and on the field really helped us take that win.
What lessons did you learn from last year’s regional final loss?
Lukasavage: Towson was faster than we were, which doesn’t always make a team better than you. And I think that’s maybe something the girls needed to learn, that there are ways to circumvent speed. That was something that we contended with within that game. They were faster and then we went into overtime. So it’s 7-on-7 and they beat us on speed there. Knowing that there are passing lanes that you can use when you’re in that 7-on-7 or how you should be covering other players or making sure we’re not letting corners happen, that sort of thing.
You said some seniors trained together over the offseason, what did they do and how has that benefitted the team so far?
Lukasavage: I had a lot of girls work on conditioning, which was great because then when they came to preseason, we didn’t need to spend as much time on that. We were able to focus on the skills of the game, rather than making sure that everybody’s fitness level was ready. They’re a great group. They work well together. I guess ultimately, they’re friends. So knowing that one player was out there working on on her conditioning level forces other people to want to partake in that as well. We had several girls, seniors in particular, who came just ready to go for the season.
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