MND, Ursuline lead field ahead of 2024 field hockey season. Storylines, players to watch

The field of teams from Greater Cincinnati in the sport of field hockey may be smaller than most other Ohio High School Athletic Association sports, but the competition to win the region and advance to the OHSAA state tournament will be mighty.

Mount Notre Dame won the regional championship last season for the third consecutive year before falling to state runner-up New Albany in the state semifinals.

No Cincinnati team has reached the state finals since St. Ursula won the OHSAA state championship in 2010. It remains the only Ohio state title by a local team since the sport was sanctioned in 1979. Mount Notre Dame in 2004 and Indian Hill in 2000 are the only other Cincinnati teams to reach the field hockey state championship game.

Here is a look at the players and teams that will be on the case of getting the Southwest region representative back in the OHSAA state finals.

Indian Hill

Before Mount Notre Dame's run of regional championships, Indian Hill was the last area team to make the state tournament, appearing in 2020.

Last season the team finished with a 12-5-1 mark, including a 6-0 start to the season while allowing a single goal in that stretch. In total, Indian Hill had eight shutout victories with the likes of Kincade Givens in goal.

Mount Notre Dame

Last year the Mount Notre Dame Cougars finished the campaign with a 13-4-3 record, falling to New Albany 3-0 in the state semifinals after shutting out both St. Ursula and Ursuline Academy in the regional tournament.

The team's chance at four-peating the regional tournament is bolstered heavily by the return of senior Laura Fagan.

Fagan was the Girls Greater Catholic League and Cincinnati Enquirer Player of the Year while also being named first-team All-Southwest Ohio Field Hockey League and All-Ohio. She was the only local player to earn first-team All-Ohio honors from the Ohio Field Hockey Coaches Association.

Senior Ella Jones was honored with GGCL and SWOFHL first team, returning for the Cougars after scoring eight goals with nine assists last year. Returning senior defensive midfielder Rachel France was first-team All-GGCL as a sophomore in 2022 before missing last season with an injury.

St. Ursula

St. Ursula comes into 2024 as a team that hovered around the .500 mark and managed a playoff victory as the No. 5 seed against No. 4 Oakwood. Of the five Bulldogs to get GGCL honors, two return in seniors Piper Davoran and Aubree Popen.

Summit Country Day

Summit Country Day only won one game last season while drawing the seventh seed in the regional tournament. The Silver Knights return a group of seniors who will draw from that year of experience to move forward.

They will rely on senior captains Ella Cary, Daisy Doran, Charlotte Thompson and Glady Hill to push the team forward. Thompson and fellow senior Ava Kulesza will lead the attacking front while Hill works as the goalie, entering the year with over 200 career saves.

Ursuline Academy

The Ursuline Academy Lions had a 13-6 season in 2023 with half of those losses coming to rival Mount Notre Dame. Ursuline was the No. 2 seed in the regional tournament, shutting out Summit Country Day and Indian Hill before falling 2-0 to Mount Notre Dame in the finals.

The team has 13 seniors on its roster as the Lions try and get to the state tournament for the first time since 2018. Leading the charge on the crusade is senior Julia Ward.

Ward is a defender who still managed to lead the team in goals in 2023, making her a standout on either end. Ward will continue playing field hockey in college at Bryn Mawr College.

Head coach Shannon Regan said contributors alongside Ward will be seniors Ashley Guy, Elise Moeller and Harper Hodgett. Guy and Moeller will work the offense as forwards with good speed and stick skills while Hodgett, a future college lacrosse player, has stellar athleticism, speed and work ethic to contribute around the field.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: High school field hockey: Cincinnati players, teams to know in 2024