New players abound, and other things we learned at South Portland/Westbrook field hockey practice
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South Portland/Westbrook field hockey coach Kaylee Fernandez talks with senior forward Emily LaCasse during practice Thursday in South Portland. The Red Riots made the playoffs last fall, but have a number of new players for the 2026 season. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
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SOUTH PORTLAND — The South Portland/Westbrook field hockey team chased down its goal last year. A new challenge, however, awaits this fall.
The co-op team, that goes by the Blazin’ Riots, made the playoffs last year, qualifying for the first time since since the two schools combined in 2022 and the first postseason appearance for South Portland since 2017. It was the breakthrough they had been homing in on, and they achieved it by beating Windham in the Class A South preliminary round before falling to eventual state champion Cheverus.
This year, though, there’s the task of transition. South Portland/Westbrook saw most of its starters graduate, replaced by new players — both new to the program, and in some cases, new to the sport.
Still, coach Kaylee Fernandez (née Whitten) isn’t letting an unproven roster be an excuse for tempered objectives.
“Making the playoffs is always the goal, and should be people’s aspiration,” she said. “For my seniors, the ones who were actively on the field leaving their blood, sweat and tears out there, they know what it feels like and they do want to chase that.”
STARTING FRESH
South Portland/Westbrook graduated seven of starters from last year’s team that went 7-8-1 and reached the quarterfinals. There are seven freshmen and two other players who are new to field hockey, and Fernandez said some will factor into the lineup right away.
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With so many unproven players, she said an early goal will be trying to develop some offensive punch.
“(We’re) working on the confidence piece, where last year we had a lot of girls who were confident in their dribbling and elimination skills,” she said. “These two weeks, we are perfecting those elimination skills and making sure the girls are confident to get the ball up the field and get the ball in the net.”
Fernandez said she’s expecting growing pains, but that the large freshman class is encouraging.
“I’m excited to see what we can do moving forward,” she said. “Numbers are terrible everywhere, so I’m happy with seven freshmen, for sure.”
MIDFIELD LOOKING UP
While there’s inexperience throughout the lineup, Fernandez said midfield will be a strength for the team. Senior Lucy Wetzel started her career in back and brings a good defensive understanding to the center midfield position, and senior Maggie Berry, who last played as a freshman, has good speed and stamina, and will slot in on either the right or left side.
The forward group was hit hard by graduation, but there’s returning experience there as well with Mia Janoplis and Emily Lacasse.
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South Portland/Westbrook seniors from left, Emily LaCasse, Maggie Berry, Lucy Wetzel and Mia Janoplis run through a ball handling drill Thursday in South Portland. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
“(Janoplis) needs to be a little bit more selfish, and take the ball for herself and put the ball in the net,” Fernandez said. “We do have girls that can put the ball in the net, it’s just that we need to mesh a little bit.”
SPLITTING SESSIONS
South Portland/Westbrook has been dividing its preseason days into morning and afternoon sessions, with conditioning and body workouts for an hour in the morning followed by two hours of drills and game situations later.
“It’s just teaching and explaining why we’re doing what we’re doing and when we’ll use it in a game,” Fernandez said of the afternoon practices. “We do some dribbling and stuff with the morning practices, but there’s only so much you can do in an hour.”
On Thursday morning, players did dribbling, shuffling and quickness drills up and down the field, while the ones awaiting their turn passed the time with planks and push-ups at the goal line.
Fernandez said she sees a little more enthusiasm in the later practices, as workouts give way to playing the game.
“In the morning session they are half-asleep still,” she said with a laugh. “In the afternoon, I definitely think they come ready to play. … (We’re) doing the drills 110%, because you don’t get anything out of them if you’re not doing them full out.”
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Tagged: south portland red riots, westbrook blue blazes
Drew Bonifant covers sports for the Press Herald, with beats in high school football, basketball and baseball. He was previously part of the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel sports team. A New Hampshire. More by Drew Bonifant
