It’s been a pretty good time to be a field hockey goalkeeper in Suffolk over the past few years. In the past two seasons, Lakeland’s Kelsey Cutchins, Nansemond River’s Amber Shaffer and King’s Fork’s Ashley Payton have all grabbed spots on the All-Southeastern District teams.

Now, it may be Kaitlyn Wash’s turn. After spending last season stopping shots on the Fork junior varsity squad, she’s moving up to take the spot Payton left when she graduated in June.

&uot;The shots will be a lot harder (than in junior varsity),&uot; Wash said. &uot;The talent will be more challenging, but I won’t have to stop as many shots, because my offense will give me a break during games.&uot;

One such welcomed offender will be Mary Rose, who helped the team to 6-7 in its inaugural year.

&uot;It was hard, but it was fun,&uot; said Rose of breaking in a new squad. &uot;When you’re new, people don’t accept you or think you’re going to be good. The one thing we know is that we don’t have to prove anything to anyone. What we want to do is prove it to ourselves.&uot;

Their coach is already convinced.

&uot;I was very satisfied (with last year),&uot; said Ashley Alston. &uot;It was very impressive. There’s a lot of intensity and leadership from the seniors. Their drive to do better is very strong. They’ve been asking me to do conditioning, and you don’t see that very often.&uot;

The Lady Bulldogs open their season Aug. 31 at Western Branch.

jason.norman@suffolknewsherald.com