BRIGHT HUE: Stuart Country Day School field hockey player Cate Donohue goes after the ball in a 2014 game. Last Saturday, senior forward and tri-captain Donohue contributed an assist to help Stuart top WW/P-S 2-0 as it earned its first win of the season. The Tartans, who improved to 1-6-1 with the victory, are slated to host the George School (Pa.) on October 3. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

With the Stuart Country Day School field hockey team trailing Blair Academy 1-0 in the the early going last Wednesday, Cate Donohue saw an opportunity and seized it.

“I am left wing; it is just a lot of determining whether I want to get mid or if I want to stay on the outside,” said Stuart senior star Donohue.

“In that situation, I saw Sam Servis coming up and hitting it towards center so that was it for me to go in. It was just a matter of going to it as soon as it came into the circle, getting my stick on it and shooting it in.”

Donohue fired the ball in to make it a 1-1 game and minutes later, she nearly tallied on a shot off a penalty corner. Stuart, though, didn’t generate many chances after that, suffering a disappointing 6-1 loss to the Buccaneers.

Afterward, the Tartans circled up for a long post game talk which involved some soul searching.

“It was keep your heads up,” said Donohue. “We have lost a lot of games this season but we feel this is one of the first off games we have played. We really didn’t give our all. I think we realized that we were lagging, falling behind a little bit, maybe fatigue from having a game the day before (a hard-fought 0-0 tie with Academy of New Church).”

In Donohue’s view, talking during the game is important for the Tartans.

“I think it is just about communication,” said Donohue. “We really want to win these games. It is just a matter of executing what we learn in practice and making sure that we show that on the field.”

As a senior tri-captain, along with Servis and Tori Hannah, Donohue looks to set a business-like, upbeat tone for Stuart.

“I try to really home in on intensity,” asserted Donohue, who picked up an assist last Saturday as Stuart topped WW/P-S 2-0 to earn its first win of the season and improve to 1-6-1.

“I really want to make sure that very single player is playing because they want to play; that this is something that they take seriously and also have a lot of fun doing. So trying to balance that is really my main focus.”

Donohue believes that the Tartans can do some good things this fall. “Every single game, minus today, has definitely just been getting better and better,” asserted Donohue.

“It is just a matter of taking it up a notch to the point where we are getting more goals in and letting less goals in. We need to be getting the ball off and making it a quicker game. I have a lot of confidence in my team. I think we are definitely going to pick it up and make this a season we can turn around and be proud of.”