The Nansemond River High School field hockey team returns a strong core and is excited about the season.

Last season, the Lady Warriors finished in the top half of the Southeastern District. The district contains some of the more talented field hockey teams in South Hampton Roads.

This season, the Lady Warriors are hoping to be better than they were last season. Seven seniors return to the team, which will provide some strong leadership and production this season.

“We have a strong group returning, and I think we may surprise some people this season,” Coach Allison Dize said.

The Lady Warriors will see solid competition in their first couple of weeks. They open up at home against Deep Creek High School Wednesday and then play again at home against Smithfield High School Thursday.

Next week they will face Menchville High School and Grassfield High School. The Lady Warriors will definitely get a chance to set the tone on their season early.

“We have a good schedule this year,” Dize said. “We play some tough teams early. We took a 1-0 loss last year to Smithfield, and I know the girls are hoping to get this one. Teams like Menchville are in our region, and we have some very good teams in our region.”

Emily Binley returns as a senior goalkeeper and, along with Allison Fischer and Sarah Rhiel, forms a group of key contributors. The Lady Warriors have scrimmaged against the likes of Lakeland High School and Nansemond-Suffolk Academy during the preseason. In those two scrimmages, Dize felt like her team was able to get some good work in against other good competition.

“Lakeland had a core group that challenged us offensively,” Dize said. “I told the girls the other day at practice that I feel like we are working on stuff now that we didn’t get to until the end of the season last year. So, it’s good to be ahead of the curve now.”

Lakeland will face Deep Creek at home at 5:15 Wednesday and Smithfield at home at 4 p.m. on Thursday.