Saugus field hockey captains reflect on remarkable growth in 2025

By Dom Nicastro

For the first time since 2016, Saugus field hockey went dancing in November. After years of rebuilding and close calls, the Sachems broke through this fall with a 9-9 record and a dramatic overtime appearance in the Division 3 state tournament — a feat that capped a season defined by resilience, leadership and belief. And at the heart of it all was a small but mighty captains group that guided the program through transition and triumph: seniors Anna Enwright and Audrey Comeau and juniors Sydney Ferreira and Jordyn Ripley-Deminski.

New Head Coach Julie Champigny, who spent two years as an assistant under longtime coach Barbara Guarente, inherited a young team of 18 players, including seventh graders getting their first taste of varsity play. What she also inherited was a leadership core ready to carry the torch.

“I’m really just proud of this team,” Champigny said. “We came back with a lot of returners, but overall, a really young team. We had only two seniors on our whole team, and they were leaders throughout the whole season. When we won against Danvers, that just propelled us to a great rest of the season.”

That 1-0 victory over Danvers — a longtime powerhouse in the Northeastern Conference — became the defining moment of the year. Sophomore Julia Strout netted the winner off a corner, and the Sachems’ confidence soared from there.

“Definitely the Danvers one,” said Enwright when asked about the signature win this fall. “That was the hardest one, and that was the game that everybody tried the hardest, and we came really together as a team. There was a lot of talking and everything. That’s really what got us into the tournament.”

Comeau agreed. “We had the same team, but I feel like this year we were definitely closer,” she said. “We bonded way more. We all worked together more on the field.”

That chemistry didn’t happen by accident. The Sachems put in the work to become not just teammates, but a family — something Ferreira said was crucial to their turnaround. And it was even Ferreira’s mom who did the cooking on those team family nights.

“We had pasta dinners and fun practices that really brought us together,” she said. “We also went to a lot of the unified games and did things outside of field hockey.”

Her mother’s homemade pasta, it turns out, became a bit of a team legend. “Sydney’s mom cooked our entire pasta dinner this year,” Ripley-Deminski said with a smile. “It was really good.”

But once the dinner plates were cleared, it was all business. Ferreira anchored a defense that improved with each game, while Ripley-Deminski emerged as one of the conference’s top goalies, guiding a gritty backline that kept Saugus in nearly every contest.

“I would definitely say I’m on the louder side,” Ripley-Deminski said. “I’m very talkative in the games — about telling everyone where to be. I think a lot of the team wanted it so bad, and you could really see it on the field with the hustling and getting back. Our defensive corners were very impressive. We had a lot of penalty shots on us, and the defense was able to stop the ball before it could even get to me.”

That defense was tested again in the team’s unforgettable postseason match: a 1-0 double-overtime loss to Apponequet that could have gone either way. “They really gave it their all,” Champigny said. “We had to battle through overtime and also on grass, which we were not expecting. It was just a very different surface than turf, but they still brought it. Kudos to Apponequet’s coach — she’s been there for 45 years — it was a pretty historic game for both sides. I almost had a heart attack. It was very scary at times, but I’m just so proud of Saugus.”

The 7-on-7 overtime format stretched every ounce of endurance from the Sachems’ small roster, and the experience is something Champigny believes will pay dividends next year.

“It’s really special that we can take girls in as eighth graders — and this year, even seventh graders,” she said. “We have girls who have been working in this program for years, and this was the year so many came into their own. They’ve been working together, and that’s been a huge part of our success.”

The captains are already looking ahead. For juniors Ferreira and Ripley-Deminski, the bar has been set. “We’re doing a winter league, then captains practices and summer stuff,” Ripley-Deminski said. “It’s exciting to look ahead to next year.”

Champigny’s excitement matches theirs. “We have just such strong players and personalities coming back,” she said. “Only things can look up for Saugus field hockey. I’m very excited. We’ll miss our seniors — but we’re building something that’s only getting stronger.”