It’s no secret that East Penn Conference and District 11 field hockey titles go through Emmaus. It’s been that way for three decades, since long before any of this year’s high school players were born. But Parkland has been the Hornets’ top challenger many seasons.

The Trojans will again be one of the top challengers to the perennial champs with hopes of finally knocking them off.

Last season, Parkland came within one win of a district championship, falling to Emmaus in the final, and also placed second in the conference behind the Green Hornets.

The Trojans finished with an 18-8 overall record last year and qualified for the state tournament. They will look this year to finally get over the hump after coming up just short last year. They will have almost a whole new cast and crew looking to bring home gold this season as they graduated 11 seniors after last year’s campaign.

Head coach Julie Sikorsky welcomes back returning seniors Lily Kyvelos and Lainie Walker and juniors Aurora Gery and Elaina Fragassi. Some underclassmen that will be looked upon to contribute include sophomores Jo Brunnabend, Rosella Birns and Brynn Harrison.

“I think that our leadership from our experienced upperclassmen will be a big strength for us,” Sikorsky said. “We also have a very strong midfield that will help us on both sides of the field. Overall, we have a young team. We graduated 11 seniors last year, nine of which were starters. We’re going to need inexperienced players to step up for us from day one.”

With the success of last season, there will be higher expectations for the Trojans from outside of the program. But Sikorsky wants her team to keep the same goals as every year and not get too complacent from the success they saw last season.

“Take each game one at a time,” said Sikorsky. “We hope to find a team dynamic that works with this new generation of players. Connect on and off the field, getting to know one another’s strengths, weaknesses and communication to be effective.”