Amid Region Rife With Field Hockey Achievement, Nauset Enters Conversation

NORTH EASTHAM – In terms of field hockey talent and success, the Cape and Islands, as a region, is collectively loaded.

The triumphs in the game haven’t been limited to a program or two but are spread throughout the peninsula. There’s Dennis-Yarmouth, the defending state champions of Division 4, and Sandwich, last year’s runners-up in Division 3.

There’s also Monomoy, with five consecutive semi-final (or better) finishes in Division 4. Falmouth was a Division 2 semi-finalist within recent memory. 

All told, the area lays claim to 13 statewide final four appearances since the current version of the MIAA’s divisional tournament system was first iterated in 2021 (That’s not to mention the more than dozen sectional championships from 1984 to 2019).

Nothing has changed this year. Monomoy is ranked second overall in Division 4 (as of The Chronicle’s Tuesday deadline). Dennis-Yarmouth is third. Sandwich is second overall in Division 3, and Falmouth is ninth.

What is a new development this year is the compelling case made by Nauset (6-3) that they too are approaching the fold of top Cape field hockey squads.

The Warriors went 6-1 to begin the season, with a 3-2 win against Dennis-Yarmouth serving as, so far, the signature moment. They’re ranked 12th in Division 3, which would be their highest finish since a Division 2 No. 12 seed in 2021.

“I feel like we've really put in a lot of work to get where we are right now,” junior Sophie Larivee said.

The end to last year may have signaled the rise that was to come this fall. Nauset went 4-11-3, a high strength of schedule metric garnering a No. 20 seed in the state tournament. There, they defeated No. 13 Nantucket 2-1 on the island, then narrowly fell 2-1 at No. 4 Medfield the following round.

The Nantucket game was Nauset’s first postseason win since at least 2006.

A difficult schedule is exactly what happens with a slate against local teams, but the Warriors have this season converted those frequent dates with nearby strong programs into actual wins.

The evolution, according to head coach Tia Raspante, has been in the tactical side of the game and the will and intent to want to learn more about it. They’ve focused on field strategy, stick technique and plenty more.

Raspante understood that grasping certain concepts she first introduced three years ago would be difficult and take time, but the team is starting to understand, she said. Nauset’s ascent through the divisional seeding since Raspante first entered the program (from No. 26 in 2024 to today’s No. 12) mirrors as much.

“I think to see where we've grown from even last year to now, it's like we're starting to really turn it on and think when we have the ball and know what our next decision is going to be when we have it,” Raspante said. “And that takes a lot of practice and being under pressure and in situations on the field, and I think we're just growing in that sense and always offering help.”

Nauset’s win against Dennis-Yarmouth on Sept. 23 remains the Dolphins’ sole loss so far as reigning Division 4 winners. Larivee, sophomore Sofia Callahan and sophomore Zoey Bassett scored for the Warriors. 

Larivee said the Dennis-Yarmouth result was, indeed, “a bit of a shocker.”

“I feel like we deserved that one,” she said. “We worked really hard during that game.”

Nauset’s downing of the Dolphins earned no reprieve — in fact, the opposite. They’re currently playing through an eminently trying three-week October stretch: Monomoy, at Sandwich, at Falmouth, at Dennis-Yarmouth, Sandwich, Falmouth, at Monomoy.

But that’s just how it goes in Cape Cod field hockey. 

And even those tough matchups against the uber-elite present opportunities for potential recognizable gains. For example, Nauset played Monomoy last Thursday with a “good mindset,” but the 4-0 result in favor of the Sharks demonstrated the Warriors had a few things to polish up physically, Larivee said.

“We still showed that, I think, we play together really well,” Larivee said. “I feel like everyone backs each other up, and even in times like these, I don't think anyone tends to fall on the other person or blame the other person. I think everyone still realizes that we're in this together, and it's not on any individual person.”

The saying goes that iron sharpens iron. More accurately with respect to field hockey sticks, composite materials may sharpen composite materials. It seems to be the case with the game on the Cape, and Nauset’s 2026 season is serving as proof.