By Bob McPhee,Staff Writer

BETHEL – What have you done for me lately?

After winning a state championship, a team has to guard against a letdown the following season. There are many intangibles that can potentially derail a repeat performance, but Class C field hockey champs from Telstar Regional High School has plenty of veterans and the mindset to carry on the tradition.

“We definitely want to go to states (again),” Liz Rosenberg said. “There are plenty of goals for us to accomplish along the way. I know we’ll need to play hard and, at the same time, I think you’ll see the whole team working together. One thing we need to do is win the Mountain Valley Conference because we haven’t done that before.”

Telstar has plenty in reserve with 14 seniors, including captains Kayla Mills, Mallory Brown, Jullian Kimball and Rosenberg.

“We’ll need to play up to our potential,” Brown echoed.

Last fall, the Rebels delivered a message by scoring all their goals in the first half, en route to a 6-0 victory against Stearns in the state finals. The six goals is a record for one team in a state game.

It was Telstar first state crown since back-to-back titles in 1978-79. Those teams were led by current coach Gail Wight and several of the players’ mothers.

“It’s really nice to see the makeup of this team,” Wight said. “The girls have their heads on straight and they are focused. The senior class is the nucleus of this team, but we also have some talented underclassmen. There’s plenty of things to work on.

“My goals’ are to score more from inside the (offensive) circle and not to allow as many goals.”

There’s a tendency to see players drop their heads after having been scored upon. This mental breakdown usually limits a team’s ability to comeback, but one of Telstar’s strengths is the ability to keep digging and score goals late in the closing seconds.

Communication has been another key. The players have learned to vocalize, taking a cue from Wight constantly barking instructions from the sideline.

Kimball and Rosenberg are both major cogs in the Rebels 3-3-3-1-1 formation. Kimball is the sweeper and is the last line of defense in front of goalies Heather Gionet and Stephanie Tripp.

“I can see the entire field,” Kimball said. “From that perspective, I’m better able to be vocal and direct traffic and position players when the other team is rushing toward us. My main responsibility is to be able to step (forward) and clear the ball out of the zone. That’s one reason why I feel it’s so important for us to work on our team passing.”

Wight credits Kimball for playing under control and not simply knocking her shots out of bounds. She has the unique ability of drawing opposing players toward her, then flicks a pass to open teammates.

Rosenberg has a different role on the second line. She is geared toward getting the ball down low to the forwards. A solid slap shot also makes her a threat to score any time from the top of the circle.

The team’s closeness comes from the school’s location nestled in the Western mountains. The players have been together for years on field hockey, basketball and softball teams.

“Our athletic background helps,” Rosenberg said. “The competition helps because each sport provides you to use different skills. I think being a small school also helps because we are closer, and friends on and off the field.

“The thing we want to do now is to encourage the younger players to play well.”

The success has also carries over to the classroom. A majority of the seniors are members of the National Honor Society.

The players attend a camp each summer, in an effort to hone their skills and enhance team unity. This July, a week was spent at the University of Maine and they were enticed by artificial turf on Morse Field.

“We just have to get back to the state game,” Kimball said. “So, we can play on the turf again.”