After last year’s phenomenal record setting-season that ended with a 13-7 score overall, the girls varsity field hockey team fell to archrivals Westfield in a brutal 3-1 loss. While they struggled in the game against the Blue Devils, freshman forward Audrey Saccento scored the only goal – a bright spot for a team that had difficulty on the offensive side of the game. 
“It felt great that I got to contribute to this amazing team of athletes,” Saccento said. “I am so glad that I get to play with a team with such a strong bond and I’m excited to see where our season takes us.”
Sacccento started as center forward after scoring her first varsity goal in a scrimmage against South Plainfield last week. She proved to her coaches and teammates why she deserves the opportunity to play on a team that has recently made a name for themselves.
With 7 penalty corners and 2 shots on goal, the Raiders were competitive but struggled to score while on the attack. With a lucky goal in the last two minutes of the game, the Blue Devils secured themselves a victory. 
“Going into this game we were hoping to come out with a win,” senior captain Allie Serio said. “Westfield is a tough team and gave us a good game.”
Moving up to the Blue Division for field hockey this year, there has been a major transition period for the Raiders. There is extra pressure on Serio and other returning players to continue to win games and show that Scotch Plains-Fanwood can be a top program in the state. 
“It was definitely a hard loss considering they [Westfield] are our rivals but we definitely learned a lot and have a few things that we want to improve upon going forward in our season,” junior Meagan Bourke said.
Bourke and many of the other players are hopeful that their upcoming back-to-back home games this Wednesday, Oct. 7 against Columbia followed by Montclair on Friday, Oct. 9 will have a better outcome and allow them to show that they can hold their ground in the new division.