Courtesy of Brian Beard

Hannah Balmelli ’28 opened her second season on the field hockey team with blistering offensive technique and a strong team mindset. In just the first two games of the season, she scored four goals for the Polar Bears (3–0; 1–0 NESCAC), including a hat trick against the University of New England (UNE).

Balmelli was drawn to field hockey in first grade, following in the footsteps of her two older sisters. As she progressed through club-level competitions, she aspired to playing collegiate field hockey.

“I didn’t ever feel a point where I wanted to stop playing,” Balmelli said. “I feel like it wasn’t an option not to play after high school.”

The Bowdoin team quickly became a tight-knit community for Balmelli.

“We spend a lot of time together off the field which kind of translates to the chemistry on the field,” Balmelli said. “[Another] strength would be the work ethic and the determination everyone has. ”

She specifically highlighted some of the team mantras and game time encouragement that teammates and coaches provide to each other.

“A mindset we have is that if you’re tired, just look at the person next to you and do it for them, not yourself,” Balmelli said. “I think that’s just a great mindset to have on the team because we’re playing [the game] for something bigger than ourselves.”

The positive team culture has already paid off in dividends, with the Polar Bears winning their first three games of the season. Balmelli has played a key offensive role thus far, scoring three of the seven goals for the Polar Bears against UNE and adding another goal to the board against Colby College.

“I’m really excited that we started off the season with two wins, because we set some high goals for the season. Starting off on a winning streak sets the tone for the rest of the season,” Balmelli said. “This year we’re obviously gonna try to do better than last year, and I think that [these wins] definitely gave us a little bit of confidence going into future NESCAC games.”

For Balmelli, a strong part of her current success is a result of her increased confidence now having a year under her belt of collegiate play. This season, she hopes to build on her current momentum to continue to help the team succeed.

“One of my goals is to score more and produce offensively in the circle,” Balmelli said. “Last year, I think that’s something that our team focused on because many games were lost by one goal. We’re really going to try to focus on finishing. That’s something I’m trying to be able to do and provide for the team.”

Balemelli hopes the accumulation of hard work and positive energy will translate into the rest of the season, noting a team motto.

“Something we always say before games is, ‘We might not be the best team but we can always be the hardest working team’,” Balmelli said. “We’re always supporting each other, and the energy and environment is just very positive.”