Coming off a 9-11 season and a loss in the first round of the regional tournament to Herndon in 2013, the field hockey team took on the 2014 season with high hopes.

“My goal for this season was definitely to win districts,” senior Hannah Weidinger said.

Weidinger is one of the 12 seniors who make up more than half the team. The high influx of upperclassmen makes LB one of the oldest and most experienced teams in the conference.

“I think it makes for a more experienced team,” sophomore Bailey Edwards said. “We have 12 seniors, and most of them have played before. It helps to have someone older than you to look up to.”

Following their scrimmages against Herndon and Princess Anne high schools, LB opened their regular season on the road against the Langley Saxons, winning 3-1. Unfortunately, the Bruins would hit a slump and lose their next five games, which comprised of a 9-2 loss to Westfield in their home opener, a 3-1 loss to Fairfax High School, and three straight 4-0 losses to Tabb, Fairfax and Trinity in the Westfield tournament.

“We opened the season well [against Langley], but we had a very tough schedule in the Westfield Tournament,” sophomore Haley Hopkins said.

As with every sports team, players have to work as a team to play at their best and bring home wins.

“We need to work on working together,” Weidinger said, “rather than taking the ball and trying to score on fast breaks.”

This season has seen the Bruins opening strong and jumping out to early leads only to relinquish them as the game progresses. This is a trend that many players want to buck soon.

“We need to work on staying in the game,” Edwards said. “We come out strong, maybe scoring a goal or two, but we let the other team come back in it. That’s why we’ve had a lot of overtime games.”

After starting slow with a 1-5 record, LB has clawed its way back towards .500, and they now sit at 6-7 with three games remaining.

“[Our best game was] against Woodson,” Hopkins said. The team defeated the Cavaliers 3-0 on Oct. 1, and was in control for the entire game.

As the regular season begins to come to a close, the many players are looking forward to the district tournament, where they will face South County.