After an 8-10-1 record last season, Lindbergh field hockey coach Andrew Shipp believes his squad can improve in 2023.

“We believe that an above .500 record is possible based on our schedule,” he said. “We hope to take the next step of another round in the playoffs after three straight rounds of 16 losses.”

In order to build off last season, Shipp said the team must continue running its offense well.

“We did well with playing team offense,” he said. “We are hoping to recreate that again this year with a new squad at the forward position.”

Returning for the Flyers this season are junior Ava Kientzy and seniors Kiley Scott, Rylea Riffert, Audrey Turek and Zoe Earley.

Shipp also said the team will feature two new goalies this season in junior Ava Coats and senior Angie Fialka.

“We are looking forward to them stepping up and continuing a strong goalie tradition,” he said.

Shipp has been impressed with the direction of the team early on during practice.

“We are willing to learn and take direction,” he said. “The players are engaged and wanting to improve on last year.”

The Flyers coach also said that defense will be the key this season for the team.

“The team defense will be a strength, as well as their conditioning,” he said.

As far as hurdles for the team to overcome this season, after losing a number of seniors to graduation, it will be important for newer players to step up.

“We graduated a large portion of our offense last year,” Shipp said. “We are looking to replace that up front with a strong junior class.”

With a full schedule of games getting ready to start, Shipp said the team is looking forward to playing anyone and everyone.

“We always look forward to our Parkway West matchup, which is our last game of the season this year,” he said. “We look forward to proving our abilities against any private school we get each year.”

Given the fact that field hockey is still a fairly new sport at Lindbergh, Shipp thinks his squad is performing pretty well.

“We are a relatively new sport and still have lots of players who have not played field hockey prior to high school,” he said. “To find the success this program has had, given the newness of the sport, speaks to the dedication of these amazing young women and their desire to learn and excel.”

Lindbergh opened the season Aug. 30, after The Call went to press.