Success is not familiar territory for Saint Thomas More Preparatory School’s field hockey team.

    In years past, wins have been hard to come by, losses have been plentiful and a state tournament appearance was no more than a dream.

    Woe is the Ravens no more, as they stormed through the regular season, going undefeated at 15-0-1 and earning the No. 5 seed in the state tournament.

    Despite all of the success up to this point, however, head coach Debbie Windett said her team still is not satisfied.

    “I think a good thing is that our kids aren’t just happy, like ‘Oh good, we’re in it,’” Windett said. “They want to go beyond that with the year that we’ve had. There’s a lot of confidence in this group so hopefully that will get us results.”

    Because success is new to the Ravens, she is surprised at how little it has gotten to the players’ heads. Windett said that with every bit the team has achieved, the bar has been raised that much higher and the work ethic has increased that much more.

    “They’ve kind of exceeded what I’ve thought they had in terms of confidence,” she said. “They were bound and determined, and they haven’t stopped working. I’ve been really pleased with them.”

    Saint Thomas will face No. 12 Caravel Academy in the first round of the tournament. The Bucs are a team Windett said will give them a challenge, particularly one player.

    “They’re always a good team,” she said. “When I was at CR we played them every year. They have a super player in Taylor Brown, and from what I’m hearing it appears that she’s the one to stop.”

    Because of inclement weather last week, the Ravens got some much-needed relaxation before closing out its regular season with a convincing 4-1 win over St. Peter and Paul High School.

    Windett said it was nice to see the girls come back from a few days off with an even greater hunger to win.

    “I was really pleased with the way we responded against St. Peter and Paul,” she said. “It was good to have that game.”

    Windett added the performance in that final regular season contest was a reflection of how the team has been improving all year, and that they are entering the tournament playing their best hockey yet.

    “I think we’ve been getting more intense as we’ve been building towards that last few games,” Windett said. “It’s just fine tuning at this point.”

    More than anything, however, she knows the team is excited to be able to play beyond the regular season for the first time, especially on its own field.

    “Our kids are excited and I think that our school is excited,” she said. “You know it’s our first time getting there, and to get to play at home is always a huge thing.”

    The Saint Thomas More Preparatory field hockey team will play No. 12 Caravel Academy at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5, at Saint Thomas More.

Email Brian Citino at brian.citino@doverpost.com