MAMARONECK — After a defeat — especially a season-ending one in a championship game — it's hard to remember just how special a season was.
Last year, the Mamaroneck field hockey team came up short in its game against Windsor Central for the state Class A championship.
The two goals Windsor scored were among just five Mamaroneck yielded the entire season.
Its 2-0 loss squashed its state title three-peat try.
Despite losing 12 seniors, including six starters (four of whom gained All-State honors and a fifth, All-Section 1 honors) Mamaroneck could well be back in the state title hunt.
One big reason is not just the skill and athleticism of many of the players returning, but also Mamaroneck's depth. When the Tigers took the field Tuesday afternoon for
their second official pre-season practice of 2026, 70 players were in the mix to earn spots on either varsity or junior varsity.
The varsity squad will have one of the toughest – if not the toughest – schedule in Section 1 this fall.
But head coach Tricia Miller embraces that because to get better you have to play good teams.
Below is a snapshot view of the 2026 Tigers.
Schedule
Sept. 3 Ursuline (Flint Park)
Sept. 8 Rye
Sept. 10 at Clarkstown (North)
Sept. 15 Pleasantville
Sept. 17 at Horace Greeley
Sept. 18 Max Field Hockey national invitational tournament (Pennsylvania)
Sept. 19 Max Field Hockey national invitational tournament (Pennsylvania)
Sept. 25 at Scarsdale
Oct. 1 Ossining
Oct. 3 at White Plains
Oct. 5 at Pelham (Glover Field)
Oct. 6 John Jay-Cross River
Oct. 10 Lakeland
Oct. 14 Greenwich (Connecticut)
Oct. 17 Garden City
Oct. 20 at Yorktown
Names to know
Lily Brickman, Sr., F; Meredith D'Arcy, Jr., MF, Brooke Farscht, Sr., D; Talia Grill, Jr., MF; Ava Lawlor, Sr., D; Emilia Londrigan, Jr., F; Leila Sztul, Jr., D;
Takeaways
Mamaroneck has clearly lost a lot of talent, including two goalies, one of whom gained All-State honors in 2025.
Can it hold opponents to a collective five goals this season, as it did last? Maybe not. But Mamaroneck has two goalies, who, while inexperienced, have already shown improvement. And it's returning three very solid defenders in Farscht, Lawlor and Sztul. This is not a team likely to give up three, four or five goals a game.
But it remains a team capable of putting those kind of numbers on its side of the scoreboard. The fleet-footed Brickman, who gained All-State honors the last two seasons, tallied more than 60 points last year through her goals and assists. D'Arcy, another All-State honoree last year, can also put the ball in the cage but might be as well known for her control of the midfield. Brickman and D'Arcy are also Div. I recruits, both having committed to Georgetown.
The thing about Mamaroneck and all the good teams, for that matter, is its ability to replenish the pipeline. Mamaroneck may be a younger team than it has been in quite some time with youngsters filling some starting slots previously held by players now in college. But with so many kids trying out and the Tigers' commitment to keeping a large JV to give as many kids as possible the chance to play for Mamaroneck, there should be plenty of talent to discover and further develop.
That doesn't mean there won't be sone hard lessons learned. The Tigers will face the likes of traditional Section 1 powers Lakeland, Rye, Horace Greeley, John Jay-Cross River and Yorktown, as well as tough outside opponents like Garden City and Greenwich (Connecticut). Mamaroneck will also play once again in the Max Field Hockey invitational nationals. But Mamaroneck doesn't seem as interested in its number of wins as it does in peaking for playoffs .
This schedule should help develop its young players fast. Graduation losses or not, Mamaroneck will enter the season as the favorite to win the Section 1 Class A championship.
Talking points
Miller, who said "amazing players" go through the Tigers program, is no stranger to the hellos and goodbyes inherent in high school sports.
"Everybody lost a lot," she said of local teams. "We've just got to rebuild."
This might be one of the bigger challenges since so many players were lost at once, but she has liked returning players' attitude since they left the field after Mamaroneck fell short in last year's state championship.
"From the minute they lost to the start of pre-season they all worked very hard to get back to where we need to be," she said.
While both Brickman and D'Arcy emphasized the team's immediate goal is a league championship, both pointed with enthusiasm to their team's tough schedule, with Brickman saying the games will help set the team up for the postseason.
"Hard games help you work harder," D'Arcy added.
And Brickman pointed to one other thing as a positive.
"The key to our success is our chemistry," she said.
Nancy Haggerty covers sports for The Journal News/lohud.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Mamaroneck field hockey mixes new, familiar players as it seeks glory
