by Roger Wistar

The varsity field hockey team put on another impressive postseason display, falling just minutes shy of another New England title in a finals loss to Andover on Nov. 18.

The Big Blue proved themselves worthy of the top seed in this year’s tournament, completing an undefeated season with the 2-1 victory over the Bearcats in the final. But Hotchkiss (13-2-2) proved equally worthy of their #2 seed, playing a tie game into the final five minutes, when Andover scored with 4:35 left to seal the win.

Abby Hillebrecht ’19 was the linchpin for the Hotchkiss offense on the weekend, scoring or assisting on all three of the Bearcat goals in their 2-1 overtime win over Sacred Heart on Saturday and in the championship game.

“Every practice and every game prepared and strengthened us as a team and a family to compete until the last seconds both today and yesterday,” said head coach Kait Leonard. “It’s definitely tough to lose in the finals, but what we accomplished this year has made the coaching staff incredibly proud!”

The “last seconds” was an accurate description of the nail-biting win on Saturday, as Hotchkiss saw Sacred Heart jump out to an early 1-0 lead that looked decisive. Hillebrecht came through with the game-saving goal just 28 seconds before the final horn, with assists from Sandrine Brien ’20 and Taylor Leckey ’20.

In the subsequent overtime, the Bearcats wasted no time, with co-captain Sarah Hurlock ’19 banging home the winning goal after only three minutes of play, off an assist by Hillebrecht.

Leckey tallied the equalizer on Sunday off another assist by Hillebrecht and a helper from Alexandra Bowman ’21.

Goalie Amanda Hill ’19 had nine saves in the two games.

“Overall, it was a fantastic season. We are so incredibly proud of this united group for their heart and hustle throughout the last three months,” said Leonard.

In other postseason action, the girls varsity soccer team concluded another highly successful season with a 4-3 quarterfinal loss to Loomis on Wednesday. The Bearcats built a 2-1 lead heading into halftime but were ultimately unable to hold off the hard-charging Pelicans on their home field in the second half.