While last year's field hockey team had only two seniors, this year's team has the opposite situation, with 12 of the squad's 20 players being seniors.

According to senior captain Jenni Miller, these seniors have have gained a strong chemistry with each other over the years they have played together.

“It's so great to be a part of a large group of seniors,” Miller said. “It's really fun because we have been playing with each other for four years now, and throughout the years we have gotten to know each other really well.”

Miller said this dynamic helps to create success on the field.

“This helps out our team because we can infer what runs and plays the others will make, which is not something that can be coached,” Miller said. “It just comes from experience, so that's a really cool aspect.”

However, Miller said having such a large senior class does lead to issues with playing time. Because there are 11 players on the field and 12 seniors, not every senior gets to start.

Coach Lifon Huynh believes there are both benefits and drawbacks of this large senior class.

“It’s a great thing that they all are committed to playing for the program, [but] difficult because of substitutions and roles on the team,” Huynh said. “They can be either a cohesive class or in clusters.”

Huynh said she is concerned about how the team tends to divide because of the large numbers.

“It is a good thing but also worrisome [because of their] tendencies to branch off to social circles [and] cliques,” she said.  “There can be tension within the class for people to step as leaders as a captain or non-captains.”

For junior Jennie Werner, the numerous older players on the team help her strive to become a better player.

“Playing with so many seniors really pushes us, the juniors, to our potential and allows us to practice at a high level,” Werner said.

On Sept. 26, the Falcons defeated the Los Altos Eagles away 1-0.

On Sept. 24, the girls beat St. Francis in one of the most intense games yet with a score of 1-0. The girls were able to keep the Lancers on their feet for the entire game. They went into overtime, with senior captain Megan Doles scoring the winning goal.

About the win, Doles said, “It was amazing! The private schools always think they’re so much better than us, and it’s nice being able to show the other teams how serious we are.”

The girls beat Presentation 1-0 on Oct. 2, but lost a close game to Los Gatos with a score of 2-1 on Oct. 4.

They will face Gilroy and Leland on Oct. 9 and Oct. 11 respectively.