When hard-working teams come up in a conversation at Forest Hills Central High School, students usually start off by talking about the girls JV field hockey team. The girls had a ruthless and relentless season but came out with what matters most: grit. After a roller-coast season, their record was 1-9-4. 

The season started on August 26, when they faced off against Ann Arbor Huron at FHC in a close game that ended with a tie 1-1. Next, the team faced Saline on August 28. Forest Hills, for the second time in a row, wasn’t able to break a stalemate and tied with Saline 0-0 on Forest Hills’ home turf. Following that was another 1-1 tie-up against Rockford on August 30. Down the road, after the girls capped off their August campaign, they took on Ann Arbor Pioneer on September 2; the final score for that game was 0-0. 

Sophomore Sydney Fentzke and her fellow FHC teammates had a blast during this season, even with the outcomes they faced.

“No matter how many times we lost or tied, I feel that the field hockey team really pulled through,” Sydney said. “We always had a good attitude.” 

The next game for the girls was on September 9 against the Rockford Rams, where they yet again held down the fort and came away with a clean 0-0 tie. That contest would mark the girls’ fifth tie in a row and leave them with a 0-5-0 record. To follow up that game, the team traveled to Ann Arbor Skyline on the 18th. Again, the girls shut down Skyline’s offense and came out with a final score of 1-1. 

On the 23rd, the girls again traveled from their home turf to play Dexter, where they fell 0-2 to one of their biggest rivals. Two days later, on the 25th, the team faced off against Grosse Pointe South in a nail-biting match-up that ended in a close 1-2 loss for Forest Hills. 

Sydney’s fellow teammate, sophomore Katy Dykstra, reflected on the Dexter game.

“I would say the Dexter game was really fun because it was the most intense. Dexter has been one of our big rivals for a while. Dexter always pushes us. At the tournament, the game against dexter went back and forth. Usually, one team generally dominates the field. However, neither one did,” Katy exclaimed. “Even though we did not end up scoring, it was still a good experience to know that we can hold our own, and I feel that next year we will kick Dexter’s butt.  The team also grew close during that game hyping each other up.”

Next, on September 29, the heated FH team faced off against Novi at Novi and successfully kept them from the win with a 0-0 tie. Almost two weeks later, though, on October 12th, the team had a breakthrough game against EGR. That was their last normal season game, and the girls defeated a red-hot EGR team 2-1 on EGR’s home turf, marking a potential turning point in the season. At this point in time, the team’s record was 1-7-2, meaning their season was in quite a good place. 

At this time, the girls have started to look back on their dwindling season and touch on what they hope to improve on next season.

“Even though we did lose some games, generally, we were dominating the field,” Katy said. “We did a create job passing to open space and talking. Communication is a key part of any team sport, and I think we almost mastered it.” 

On Saturday, October 16, the girls played their final games in the JV tournament that FHC hosted. The girls had four games against Novi, Ann Arbor Skyline, Dexter, and Ann Arbor Pioneer. The girls fell 1-2 to Novi in their first game and also to Ann Arbor Pioneer 0-4 in their final game. During the games in between, Forest Hills tied Skyline 2-2 and also Dexter 0-0. As the tournament came to a close, the girls finished with a final record of 1-9-4. 

Even with only one win, those nine ties meant that the girls knew what they were doing and kept nine wins from the other teams throughout the season. Nine wins could make or break a season, so the girls were able to prevent other teams from winning.

The team looks forward to a promising season next year, and so does its coach, who was there with them at practice and games to keep her team going.

“Every team member greatly improved this season. It would be hard to pick the most improved player this year.  Our team had a lot of ties, they kept the other teams from scoring, and we finally scored a few goals at the end of the season and during the final tournament. The team members worked hard all season and are sad to see it end,” head coach Carol Aaron said.