Eying a third straight State championship, The Varsity Girls Field Hockey team starts the playoffs Wednesday with a match against Deerfield.

The girls ended their regular season with a devastating loss to rival and top ranked New Trier Trevians on their home field last week. The game went into penalty shootouts, and the Scouts came up short handed in the sudden death round.

It was the team’s second close loss to New Trier this season.

The Scouts finished with an overall record of 13-3, heading into the playoffs as the second seeded team. They are right in between the number one seeded New Trier Trevians and the number three seeded North Shore Country Day.

Their most difficult games during the season have been a big test to the strength of their team, but the playoffs will be the biggest challenge so far. It is one and done, so if they lose they are out; if they win they continue until there is only one game left to play: The State Championship.

Last year, the Scouts played against North Shore Country Day in the State final and won 2-0. It wasn’t an easy game, but the Scouts were well prepared, thanks to their hard work ethic and Head Coach Catherine Catanzaro.

She said the team is ready for another playoff run.

“I feel very prepared for the first round of playoffs, and I think after that, our preparation has to change as our opponents change, but going into playoffs I think we are in a very good spot,” she said.

While the team has hopes for a third championship, Catanzaro is not looking past the early round opponents.

“The first round and second round allow us to figure things out moving forward; we are able to play with our lineup a little bit, knowing that we lose, we go home. So the first round and second round are very important because it gives us time to get our players prepared for the unexpected,” she said.

The Scouts also have an advantage. They have lost a few close games that really gave them a lesson of what they can improve on. They know what it is like to have something so close to them and then lose after they have put so much hard work into a game.

“Going into our season, we have played tough teams, and I think we have more of a drive than some other teams do. We are prepared to play against the harder teams. We know what it is like to lose and win important games,” Catanzaro said.