Why Field Hockey Captains Izzy Deveney ’25 and Maeve Hymovitz ’26 Say “Love This Team” 

AJ Dyczkowski ’25

How has Trinity field hockey transitioned since the leave of legendary Anne Parmenter? What does field hockey preseason look like? What is “fuzzy turf?” The Tripod had the privilege of discussing it all with captains Izzy Deveney ’25 and Maeve Hymovitz ’26. 

The Bantams are currently 2-2 and their schedule is quite different than in years past, playing teams with high preseason rankings right from the start. Deveney, a defender from Westport, Conn., described the beginning of their season, “We’ve had a pretty tough first couple of games. Our first NESCAC games are against some of the higher ranked teams.” She also spoke to the roster makeup, as this year the Bantams have 12 first-years on a 28-person team. “We have a pretty young squad this year. It’s a lot of figuring out new connections.” She continued, “We had a hard game against Middlebury, but they’re number one in the country for a reason, so we just take what we can from it and try to practice and learn from it every day. We’re excited for what comes next.”

Hymovitz, a midfielder from Needham, Mass., expressed a similar sentiment as Deveney. “Our win against Springfield was nice to get back into our groove, not that our confidence was ever down, but going into the weekend with a win is really good for the team.” The Bantams posted a 3-1 win against Springfield College last Wednesday, Sept. 18, where Deveney netted one in the third quarter to even the score going into the last 15 minutes of play. Hymovitz continues on the final score of the Springfield game, “I think we were hoping to get more goals, but obviously a win’s a win either way. We know we’re a better team than that, but we’re starting to connect more rather than playing individually and we’re glad everything came together.”

Deveney added, “We’re so fortunate to have an AstroTurf field here at Trinity and Springfield is one of those teams that still uses football turf as their field, so for us going [to Springfield] we can only use the surface as so much of an excuse, but it really is hard because it completely changes the way you stop the ball [and] how you’re able to pass.” She continued, “It took a while to transition, but we were able to come back from a 1-0 deficit.”

Being a fall sport requires being some of the first people on campus in August for preseason. Both captains describe this time with the team as “sports camp.” Deveney expands, “It feels like summer camp, because all you’re doing is practicing, hanging out with your teammates, very little downtime but it’s always so much fun to just get thrown into it.” She continued, “It gets us all really focused and it’s such a great opportunity to connect and meet all the new people on your team, because you truly don’t have anything else to focus on.” Hymovitz added, “It’s nice for first years to not have the chaos of everyone moving in at the same time, and it’s also just fun.” She concluded, “We get to hang out with our teammates and best friends all day. It’s a sports camp.”

This season, the Bantams continue to uphold the team motto: “Love this team.” Both captains agree that team culture is a huge indicator of their success. “[Love this team] is something that was here before any of us were even here and we’ve always kept it,” said Hymovitz. “We’re such a tight-knit group and it’s important to emphasize [that] because we don’t want any bad relationships on the team.” 

Deveney describes the importance of history and community within Trinity field hockey, stating, “We always go into games and seasons thinking, ‘I want to make last year’s seniors proud,’ or ‘I want to make our parents proud,’ or anyone who has ever been a part of the community of this team, really.” Deveney adds, “The culture on this team runs deep. We’re on our third coaching staff ever, the legacy and the love that we have for past teams really does matter.” 

This year’s coaching staff is headed by Jessica Bergen, former head coach at Westfield State University from 2012-2022, who is in her second year as Trinity’s head coach. Prior to this change, the Bantams were guided by Anne Parmenter, who led Trinity to 15 NESCAC tournaments and five NCAA tournaments during her 23 seasons as head coach. Deveney described her experience with this coaching transition, “It was a long process. We had to do a lot of interviews and it’s just been a learning curve, but it is a hard transition for anyone to make.” She concludes, “It’s definitely a hard thing to approach, as Anne has such a long and wonderful legacy, so we really wanted to look at this legacy and love she created, because at the end of the day our team culture is what matters most to us.” 

Elaborating on team culture, Deveney reminisces on just how special the last four years of Trinity field hockey have been, “We have had a lot of success on our field and my freshman year we had the opportunity to play in the Final Four in NCAAs. I could tell you very few details about what actually happened in that game, but I could tell you every detail of the Halloween practice that we had, or when we went rock climbing as a team.” She continues, “We are still in contact with our alumni every single day asking us, ‘How’s it going? How is practice?’ I think that really shows a deeper connection than just what happens on the field.”

The Bantams are gearing up for their next out-of-conference matchup versus Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) on Tuesday, Sept. 24. “We played them away last year on their fuzzy [football] turf and we get to face them this year on our Astro, so we’re confident we can beat WPI with speed and skill,” says Deveney. Hymovitz adds, “Fuzzy turf versus AstroTurf really does make a difference, that’s where we play our best.” She continues, “Going into Tuesday with high intensity and knowing, ‘we’re here for a reason, let’s show it’ is the key.”

Watch the Bantams take down the Goats this Tuesday, Sept. 24, at their All in Game against WPI on Robin L. Sheppard Field at 6 p.m.!