Sacred Heart Greenwich senior captains Emma Marvin, Charly Nemec and Payton Sfreddo will be relied upon heavily this season since graduation claimed a wealth of seniors from last season’s highly successful varsity field hockey squad.

And the Tigers’ talented trio are of course, ready for the challenge.

“We lost a lot of seniors from last year and our team is super young, so it is going to be great to see how much we develop and how much potential we have,” Sfreddo said. “Our team has two freshmen and three eighth graders, so I feel that this year can definitely be a building year. I’m excited to set new goals on this team and have new standards. As captains, we have to create that positive atmosphere and lead the team to success.”

The Tigers have long been one of the top teams in the NEPSAC’s FAA league and the New England region. Their 2022 campaign saw them register a record of 15-4, while advancing to the championship game of the FAA Tournament and the quarterfinal-round of the NEPSAC Class A Tournament.

Sacred Heart won the FAA regular season title in 2022, earning it the No. 1 seed in the league tournament. Second-seeded rival Greenwich Academy defeated Sacred Heart, 1-0, in the championship game of the FAA Tournament, then edged the Tigers, 2-1, in the NEPSAC Class A Tournament quarterfinals. Greenwich Academy went on to win the NEPSAC Class A Tournament, defeating Taft School, 4-3, in the title matchup at Loomis Chaffee School.

In 2021, SHG won the FAA Tournament and regular season title, then made it all the way to the championship game of the NEPSAC Class A Tournament, where it lost to Phillips Academy Andover. Nine athletes graduated from the Tigers teams that experienced so much success the past several seasons.

“This year, we have a very, very, young team,” said Sacred Heart Greenwich coach Alex Gheorghe, who is entering his 11th season at the helm and is once again, assisted on the sideline by coach Sarah Hill. “We are excited to start the season, but obviously, it’s a rebuilding year for us. We need to be patient and we need to work really, really hard.”

Nemec, Sfreddo and Marvin will lead the Tigers in the middle of the field. A 2022 All-FAA Second Team selection, Nemec is a center midfielder. She will play field hockey at the University of Virginia.

“I’ve been a part of team since my freshman year and all of my siblings have been on it, so I’ve loved this team and it’s an honor to have that role of taking charge and leading the team,” Nemec said.

Charly’s older sister Kate was a 2023 Sacred Heart graduate and is playing field hockey at Stanford University. Caroline Nemec, also Charly’s sibling, is a 2022 SHG graduate and is on the field hockey team at Virginia.

“I want us to have fun and get close as a team,” Nemec said. “The past few years on the team it has been a close-knit group and that’s why we’ve had success. Our goals are to have fun and have a strong season together.”

Marvin, an All-FAA Team Honorable Mention recipient in 2022, is also a midfielder.

“This year, I am going to be playing defensive center mid and Charly is going to be playing attacking center mid, so we combine the defense and the forward and the mid,” Marvin said. “We pass, connect and combine, so that will be really fun and we will use a lot of energy too.”

Sfreddo returns at the center forward position, a spot in which she has made key plays for the squad the past several seasons.

“Emma and Charley will be playing in the middle with me,” Sfreddo noted. “I will be connecting with them in the middle. We’re looking forward to being able to coach the young talent up and help them as best as we can.”

Indeed, the Tigers trio of captains appreciate their roles.

“I’m very happy and honored to be the captain of the field hockey team this year,” Sfreddo said. “It’s been an amazing experience to be a part of the team, this is my fourth year. For a long time, I have been able to see the position and how special that is for the team, so to be in this position for the team, I think it’s really special.”

Said Marvin: “It has been so much fun. They (the first-season varsity players) are curious and I love helping them. It is so nice to teach them and help them learn. It is going to be challenging but rewarding and we are going to be learning as we are growing. The more games we play, the better we are going to get.”

Among the returning players are junior forward Ainsley Clough and senior forward Skyler Stewart. Teresa Harkins, a junior, is the Tigers’ starting goalie and senior Julia Randolph is a returning defender.

Like last season, Sacred Heart’s strengths should be many.

“We are good at making long passes and we have strong corners,” Nemec said. “During practice, we have been working on our shots and skills. On attack, we want quick transition and get shots off.”

The graduates from Sacred Heart’s winning 2022 team included Delfina Gonzalez Lobo, Olivia Caponiti, Vivi Caruso, Kate Nemec, Ines Araujo, Mackenzie Coleman, Caterina Pye, Sophia Morales and Gabi Pye.

“It was a very good group,” said Gheorghe, who is also the owner of AGH Field Hockey, a year-round club program based out of Sacred Heart. “Our goals this year are to develop the young generation and really get their skills up, so we can try to compete with the top teams. We are going to rely heavily on our three captains – they are very good captains.”

To the left, Ainsley Clough of the Sacred Heart varsity field hockey team in action during an intra-squad scrimmage, recently. Pictured right, Sacred Heart varsity goalie Teresa Harkins makes a save.

Gonzalez Lobo earned 2022 First Team All-New England honors and is continuing her field hockey career at Columbia University. She was also named to the Southern New England All-Region Team. Caponiti, a 2022 First Team All-FAA selection, is a goalie on Princeton’s field hockey team. Kate Nemec, an All-NEPSAC First Team and All-FAA First Team honoree a season ago, is playing lacrosse at Stanford and Araujo, a First Team All-FAA selection, is on the field hockey team at Lafayette College.

Caruso, who was chosen for the 2022 All-FAA First Team is playing field hockey at Amherst College. Coleman has taken her lacrosse skills to Elon University.

SCHEDULE: After hosting Wilton in a scrimmage game on Tuesday, Sacred Heart will visit FAA foe School of the Holy Child on Sept. 11. Home games include Taft School (Sept. 20), Choate Rosemary Hall (Sept. 20), Austin Prep (Sept. 30), Oct. 4 (Greenwich Country Day School), Rye Country Day School (Oct. 18), Greens Farms Academy (Oct. 23), St. Luke’s (Oct. 30) and Oak Knoll (Oct. 31).

The Tigers will visit neighborhood rival Greenwich Academy on Oct. 16. SHG and GA played four times last season, with each team winning twice. Sacred Heart won the regular season matchups and Greenwich Academy took the postseason meetings.

“They are great competition, we are both strong teams, we’ve always been competitive with each other,” Nemec said of Greenwich Academy. “I’m hoping we can get to the finals against them – it will be a great game.”

Other road games for SHG include: Kent School (Sept. 16), Hopkins School (Sept. 18), Loomis Chaffee (Oct. 11), Hotchkiss (Oct. 14) and Westminster School (Oct. 25).

“We know it’s going to take a lot of hard work to get to the level that we want to get to,” Sfreddo said. “To do that, we have to be there for each other every step of the way.”

Sfreddo is a three-sport athlete at Sacred Heart. She also plays basketball in the winter and lacrosse in the spring. After graduating from SHG, she will continue her athletic career at the University of Virginia, where she will play lacrosse.

“It is great to play three sports,” she said. “That’s what’s so great about this school. To have great roles on each team, makes it so special. I’m excited to be playing out my senior year in basketball, lacrosse and field hockey. I hope to make the most of every moment I have, because I know I don’t have that much left. Field hockey and basketball are going to be special seasons to finish out.”