After narrowly missing CCS last year, MVHS field hockey believes that the team will experience a different fate this season.

When the Lady Mats saw their 2012 senior night game draw to a close, the team had just secured a comeback victory that the girls believed would send them to CCS. After struggling in the beginning of the season, MVHS turned it around by improving team play and eventually finished that pivotal match against Prospect High School with a 9-10-1 record. They thought that a win on that final night would be enough, but their miracle turnaround ended in heartbreak as the girls learned that they did not earn enough points to qualify.

However, a number of changes to the team this year has the Lady Mats believing that they will continue their impressive end-of-season form. The team has directly addressed the issue that plagued them for the first half of last season: team chemistry.

“We have team bonding events,” junior Janaye Sakkas said. “[This] Thursday we are going to decorate water bottles together so we can bond as a team.”

The team hopes that the nine scheduled bonding events will help the girls perform well as a unit — a problem that was only resolved near the end of the 2012 season. The girls will also have to face a new challenge this year, as they play in a new league.  MVHS field hockey has left the Blossom Valley Athletic League and will now play in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, which is composed of many more local teams, lessening the amount of travel the girls will have to make this season. Even though the league has just been formed, the Lady Mats have picked up a few pointers simply by being part of a tight-knit field hockey community.

“A lot of us know at least a few of the girls from the other schools, so we already know how the other schools play,” said senior Lexi Page.

Not only do the girls have a lot of new insight on their opponents, but they also have experience on the team this year.

“We had a much larger group of girls who participated in club field hockey in the spring ,” said head coach Denise Eachus. “Our experience and the play time they have has now increased.”

Like her players, Eachus has a lot of confidence heading into this season, especially because the Lady Mats finally have the mental leverage of playing at home. After practicing and playing at Fremont High School for two years due to MVHS field construction, the Lady Mats will now be able to play on the new field, which will further minimize travel time.

“I think we will have that psychological advantage, which will help us to get that extra drive during games,” Eachus said.

Though a lot of factors have the girls in position for a breakout year, Eachus believes that the girls’ desire to win will be the most crucial.

“They are so motivated to be successful since we got so close last year,” she said. “All those things — we’re back on site, we’re playing new teams, we’ve been preparing in the offseason — has everyone jazzed.”

MVHS’ first home field hockey game will be a scrimmage against Los Altos High School on Aug. 30 at 3:30 p.m.