JORDAN RULES: Hun School field hockey player Jordan DelOrefice, right, goes after the ball in a game this fall. Senior DelOrefice scored five goals this season to help Hun go 6-11 as it bounced back from a 2-9 start. It marked the last season at the helm of the program for longtime head coach Kathy Quirk. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Struggling to a 2-9 record by mid-October, the Hun School field hockey team could have thrown in the towel over the last few weeks of the season.

Instead, Hun kept pushing, winning four of its last six games to end the fall with a 6-11 record.

“We made tremendous improvement, both myself and my assistant coach (Christine Caberle) were very happy with the way that we had improved,” said Hun head coach Kathy Quirk, noting that one of the ream’s finest efforts down the stretch came when they battled hard in a 3-0 loss to Blair in the state Prep A semis game. “We just grew as a team, a lot of individuals grew.”

That growth culminated with a memorable finale as Hun defeated Mercersburg Academy (Pa.) 2-1 on November 4 in what was Quirk’s last game as she had decided to step down from guiding the program.

“It was a nice way to end the season and it was nice for the seniors to go out on top,” said Quirk.

“The girls didn’t know it was my last game, I didn’t tell anybody, so that made it special too.”

Quirk credited her seniors with showing intensity to the end. “They were a great bunch of girls; I can’t say enough about Meg Donohue, M.C. Shea, Jordan
DelOrefice, and the two
Nehlig twins, Letson and Kendall,” said Quirk.“ All of them worked hard all season and just played hard. I am very proud of them.”

Looking back on her 13-year tenure in her final stint with the team, Quirk hopes that she has positively influenced the girls that have come through the program.

“It is not so much the wins and losses, it is the life lessons that you hope you have taught the girls and the friendships that they have made,” said Quirk.

“You hope that they remember the bonds and the team camaraderie that we have had and that they look back with fond memories of it.”