![Gunn Field Hockey players celebrate after scoring a goal on Canterbury Day at home]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1731519380/gunneryorg/mzqkkfunbgzih5f3erky/DSC_2623.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1731519380/gunneryorg/mzqkkfunbgzih5f3erky/DSC_2623.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1731519380/gunneryorg/mzqkkfunbgzih5f3erky/DSC_2623.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1731519380/gunneryorg/mzqkkfunbgzih5f3erky/DSC_2623.jpg","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1731519380/gunneryorg/mzqkkfunbgzih5f3erky/DSC_2623.jpg","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_6/v1731519380/gunneryorg/mzqkkfunbgzih5f3erky/DSC_2623.jpg","width":2200}])
Having ended their regular season with back-to-back wins against Choate Rosemary Hall (4-1) and Canterbury School (2-0), Gunn Field Hockey will play Pingree School in the NEPSAC Class C Championship Quarterfinal today at 2 p.m. at Loomis Chaffee School. This is the fourth consecutive year the Highlanders have earned a playoff bid. Gunn earned the #3 seed and Pingree is the #6 seed in the Class C Championship bracket. The winner will advance to the NEPSAC Semifinals on Saturday, November 16.
“We are excited," Head Coach Ashley LeBlanc said earlier this week. "This is our fourth consecutive bid. That feels incredible. I’m super proud of the team for their leadership and effort this season.”
Gunn Field Hockey won 10 of their last 11 regular season games, and outscored their opponents 46 to 8. “We’re just rolling, and playing some awesome field hockey, and working together for a common goal,” LeBlanc said.
Gunn concluded the regular season with a record of 12-5-1 and is heading into the playoffs with some momentum, having defeated Choate on November 6 and then rival Canterbury School at home on Barnes Field on November 9, which was Canterbury Day. “We were really excited coming off the 4-1 win against Choate. We played, I would say, one of our best games of field hockey this season. To be peaking now is ideal,” LeBlanc said.
The back-to-back, late-season wins also contributed to Gunn earning the #3 seed. “I think we were confident before the Canterbury game that we would probably make the tournament, but with the seeding, every game means so much,” LeBlanc said. “And then to win at home in the final regular season game against your rival always feels great.”
In 2023, the Highlanders also defeated the Saints in their last regular season game on Canterbury Day, and Gunn went on to win the 2023 NEPSAC Quarterfinal against Canterbury, advancing to the Semifinals. Making it back to the NEPSAC Championship has been the team’s goal this year.
“They said they wanted to try to get back to New Englands and they have, with a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication. That feels great for them,” LeBlanc said. “We met this one goal, and now it’s on to the next goal.”
