Field Hockey: Foxcroft Completes Best Season Ever with 1st Trip to State Championship Game

 
Special to Viva Loudoun
(Nov. 13, 2012) - It was all new territory for Foxcroft School athletics and the members of the varsity field hockey team made the most of it. No Foxcroft team -- in any sport -- had ever made it to a state championship game. No field hockey team had ever advanced to the semifinals of the state tournament, or hosted a first-round game, for that matter. And a weekend at Virginia Beach, playing at the National Training Center?

Forgetaboutit.

The 2012 squad, led by senior captains Caroline Fout and Carter Ware, both of Middleburg, and guided by coaches Michelle Woodruff and Jessi Coil, did all that and more. Ranked second among VISAA Division II teams most of the season, Foxcroft rolled past Norfolk Christian, 3-0, at Foxcroft in the first round of the state tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 6, to earn a trip to the “Final Four” at Virginia Beach.

In Virginia Beach last weekend, Foxcroft edged Hampton Roads, 2-1, Friday for the School’s first state semifinal victory ever and then fell to Delaney Athletic Conference nemesis Fredericksburg Academy, 3-0, Saturday in the championship game. Despite the loss, the players and School all celebrated.

“It was a first for all of us,” said Woodruff, who has built a solid all-around program at the girls’ boarding school in Middelburg since becoming Athletic Director in 2010. “We had a unique group of girls who worked so hard all season long. To see them come through and make this terrific run to the finals was pretty special.”

Added junior Lilly MacDonald of Bluemont, who assisted on both goals in the semifinal game, “It was an amazing experience and so much fun!”

Another local player, two-time All-Conference forward and leading scorer Olivia Jane Johnson, a senior from Rectortown, VA, scored both Foxcroft goals against Hampton Roads Academy to notch the victory despite the long trip to Virginia Beach and the unfamiliar artificial turf at the National Training Center. Foxcroft dominated that semifinal, allowing only five shots on goal. Junior goaltender Alicia Holz of Delaplane kicked out four shots while backs Rebecca Mann (senior, Hamilton) and Pipsy Steyn (freshman, Leesburg) kept HRA players away.

Foxcroft, had lost to just two schools en route to its a 10-3-2 lost regular season record. One of those teams, Fredericksburg Academy, had claimed its third win of the season with a 1-0 nail-biter in the DAC Championship on Nov. 2. Depite playing etheir hearts out, the Foxcroft girls could not overcome the Falcons, who were pretty hungry themselves after three straight Final Four appearances without a championship title.

Fredericksburg jumped to an early lead and then played the same stifling defense that had shut down Foxcroft's offense in previous games. FA scored again three minutes into the second half and made it 3-0 with eight minutes left to play. Foxcroft finished with just four shots on goal and a couple of corners. 

The Foxcroft team boasted six All-DAC players and expects to hear about All-State honorees within the week. Fellow Virginians that contributed to the run include Catherine Reynolds of Middleburg, Alex Grace and Miranda Raschid of Purcellville, Elsie Spencer and Madeleine McNamara of Charlottesville, Avery Finkel of Warrenton, and Serena Holz of Delaplane. Racquel Morris of Washington, DC and Bebe Jones of Wrightsville Beach, NC also played.

The fall athletic season was perhaps the best ever for Foxcroft. The tennis team, coached by Kate Barston and Gaby Batista, racked up an 11-5 record en route to a No. 3 ranking and semifinal appearance in the state tournament – a year after posting a 1-9 reconrd. And the cross-country squad saw its first runner ever, Amy Edgemond (junior, Reston, VA), earn All-State honors in cross country.