Knights tackle higher level

Coming into this season, the Thomas Dale field hockey team wore the mantle of two-time defending Central Region champion. The Knights had a 40-4 overall record in the two-year span.

Five seniors, who played key roles in Thomas Dale's success, graduated, but the Knights have overcome some tough odds to compile a 19-0 record and win a third consecutive region championship.

Thomas Dale plays in its third straight Group AAA state tournament today against Northern Region runner-up Westfield (19-4) at 1 p.m. at the U.S. National Training Center in Virginia Beach.

Central Region runner-up Maggie Walker Governor's School (16-4) has the unenviable task of playing Northern Region champion Lake Braddock (21-1) at 3.

"We kind of had to rebuild this season, especially at goalie," said stopper Caitlin Bailey, a senior. "We have a new goalie, and we've also done a lot more running to be conditioned enough. Coach [Beth Jaeckle] is harder on us as the season goes on, but it all pays off in the end."

Keeper Savanah Cummings is one of three freshmen on the team.

"Savanah came out for field hockey this year, and she had never played before," said Kelsey Whittleton, another senior defender. "She plays soccer with boys, and she's athletic all around. We just put her in pads, and she doesn't like to lose, so she makes sure she does her part."

Thomas Dale shut out opponents in 11 of their 15 regular-season games, and again in the regional final against Maggie Walker. They won by a margin of three or more goals in eight of the regular-season shutouts.

Westfield "is going to be good. We're going to have to play well the whole game," Whittleton said.

The Knights are in the state tournament for the seventh time. They have advanced past the quarterfinals just once. Maggie Walker is appearing for the second time (also 2003). James River beat Lake Braddock in overtime in 2002 to win the only state title for a Central Region squad.

"I think we want it a lot more than other teams, and we put a lot of hard work into it," said Hannah Robbins, a sophomore who was pulled up from JV and now starts. "Even when we're down, we just keep fighting."

Thomas Dale has a close-knit squad, playing with each other not only as teammates but "as sisters," as Bailey put it.

"We are all best friends," she said. "It helps a lot on the field to know how someone plays and how they react when you play. We know each other on the field and off. On nights before big games, we have pasta parties and talk about the game. It gets everyone really hyped up."

Thomas Dale and Maggie Walker will encounter one major difference at the state tournament this year: Games are played on turf instead of grass.

"The game is a whole lot faster on turf," Whittleton said. "We have to control our passes more, so as to connect not too hard but not too soft either. It is a lot easier to stop balls, though, so it's an advantage on defense."