Hopkinton High field hockey is graduating six seniors and coach Kate Hohenberger gave an emotional speech to her players and the crowd of fans that gathered around at the end of Tuesday’s game with Newport.

Each player embraced her coach and received flowers, a showing of gratitude for players who have stuck with the team through thick and thin.

The Hawks are playoff-bound in Division III after a huge 4-2 win over the Tigers on senior night on Tuesday.

“I think that they are a really unique group. I think that if you just look around, they’re really having a good time. They really enjoy each other. They enjoy each other’s company. They’ve done a lot of togetherness, team bonding and making sure that they are pulling together as a team,” Hohenberger said.

Hopkinton missed the playoffs two years ago after winning the 2021 D-III championship. Last year, the team went 5-10-0 in the regular season and made the playoffs but lost in the preliminary round.

This year, the team seems to have turned a corner and is now 9-4-0 with one game left.

“I think they really worked hard to pull together and see the urgency and see how important it was, not only for the fact there was a senior night but the fact that we needed to get another W,” said the Hopkinton coach.

Senior goalkeeper Maddie Ceriello made her presence felt and had a huge game with 15 saves against a strong attack by the Tigers (5-7-1).

“I was so stressed, literally dying. But what kept my focus was honestly the wind, and my team, my teammates around me, the coldness of fall,” said Ceriello.

Newport crowded Hopkinton’s circle, pressured high and had 10 penalty corners but could not break through the defense.

“(Ceriello) had a ton of saves and played out of her mind today. She’s been working really hard coming out of the goal, and she’s been working really hard on stopping and then clearing,” said Hohenberger.

The back line held on strong for the Hawks and played well to propel the offense into motion. Senior Kelsey Sullivan and sophomore Autumn Meier played well through the midfield and senior forward Emma Brock played well alongside sophomore Lauryn Vetter.

“I feel like we’ve been waiting for this all year. I’ve been on this team for a while, and it’s really special to win on our senior night,” said Sullivan. “We’ve come off strong, our next game looks like it’s gonna be pretty good. And then for playoffs, we seem to be pretty ready.”

Meier scored the first two goals for Hopkinton, in the first and third quarters, with two long runs where she cut through defenders to score impressive solo goals. However, Newport was able to answer with two goals of their own by Maddox Lovely.

The game was 2-2 with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, but the Hawks did not look shaken. Mentally and physically, they pushed through.

Senior forward Emma Brock received a tipped pass from Aurelia Salce to score in the possession immediately after Newport’s second goal. Three minutes later, Vetter sent a driven pass to Brock to score a fourth goal, and the team erupted in cheers after securing the win.

“Emma Brock did awesome. I’ve had her for four years,” said Hohenberger. “She didn’t play varsity her freshman year, but then her sophomore year she stepped up; she was one of the ones that would come to every single varsity game. She was right there cheering us on. Her development has been tremendous.”