Mechanicsburg field hockey fills nine spots and starts the 2026 season strong

Libby Olivetti sets up a reverse hit in Mechanicsburg vs Cumberland Valley high school field hockey game. Photo: Bob Benscoter

It took Mechanicsburg field hockey one quarter Tuesday evening to get behind their new style of play in a tough away game.

Behind a fast start and confident ball movement, the Wildcats rolled past the Eagles 4-1 at Cumberland Valley.

That was not without CV pushing back by displaying several flashy three dimensional moves and escaping clean doubles.

After four games, Mechanicsburg field hockey is now 4-1.

The ‘Cats are 3-0 at home beating Pine-Richland 4-1 Saturday, Sept. 12, Carlisle 10-1 Thursday, Sept. 10, and Manheim Township 7-3 Thursday, Sept. 3 at Soldiers and Sailors Stadium.

They lost to 2-1 away to Warwick on Tuesday, Sept. 1.

Against Cumberland Valley, senior Kayla Weldon, an Appalachian State commit, opened the scoring against the Eagles on a penalty corner that didn’t unfold exactly as drawn up. Instead of forcing the original play, Weldon adjusted, spun into space and fired a strong shot to put Mechanicsburg on the board. 

“The ball was supposed to go to Libby, but it didn’t work,” Weldon said. “I got the ball and I was like, ‘oh, they’re down.’ So I thought I guess I need to spin and take a strong shot and I did.”

Weldon scored her goal in the second quarter. The score going into halftime was 1-0.

Mechanicsburg’s attack stayed active from there. Freshman Lex Rochefort added a pair of — one in the third and one in the fourth.

The first started with senior Libby Olivetti, a Syracuse commit, carrying the ball up the middle and threading a pass into space. Rochefort cut into the lane, took the feed and finished into the corner. 

“I saw Libby dribbling the ball up the center, and I knew I had to cut in,” Rochefort said. “She passed it through, and I kind of just dribbled it up and saw the corner and just shot it.” 

Olivetti stretched the lead with a penalty stroke in the fourth, giving the ‘Cats the separation they needed and putting more pressure on a strong Cumberland Valley defense that battled throughout the night. 

Mechanicsburg mixed up their usual line-drive hits, which previous squads executed, and replaced them with quick touches and smart carries. They used the width of the field when they needed to and kept finding ways to put Cumberland Valley under pressure in the circle. 

“The small little passes were working well for us,” Olivetti said. “Knowing where each other are and passing to each other’s stick helped us a lot. Just having that connection on the field and off the field, I think we’ve grown a lot as a team.” 

Mechanicsburg coach Tonya Brown said the win showed important growth for a group replacing nine seniors from last year’s roster. 

“Cumberland Valley is a great team,” Brown said. “We have nine seniors that have left this program with a lot of holes. And we filled those holes. I’m really proud of our kids to come over here and get this W.” 

Brown liked the team’s ability to generate offense from different spots, but she also saw room to sharpen the attack as the season builds. 

“We have people that can hit the ball,” Brown said. “Kayla in the backfield, Laurel in the backfield. Obviously, Libby and Mary can hit the ball. So we don’t want to do some of those long balls. We’ve got to mix it up a little bit, and they’re getting there.” 

Cumberland Valley, meanwhile, showed fight in the back and received strong moments from its defense and goalkeeper.

The Eagles kept working to protect the circle and limit clean chances, even as Mechanicsburg’s pressure kept coming. Junior Addi McCabe stopped eight shots on goal and her defense stepped up to have her back with three defensive saves.

“I thought they all played really well together, and they did a good job of trying to keep people out of the circle, keeping the ball out of the back of the net,” Cumberland Valley Head Coach coach Ashley Hooper said. 

The Eagles opened the season with a demanding slate, picking up a win over Manheim Township before falling to Penn Manor and Mechanicsburg. Hooper said the challenge is intentional, but the next step is clear. 

Cumberland Valley is 3-2 as of this publication. The Eagles played Dallastown Saturday, Sept. 12 and beat them 8-0. They also play Pine-Richland Saturday.

“We’re going to have to beat the good teams to go far, so we might as well load the schedule,” Hooper said. “We need to score. It’s the biggest tweak I’m going to make. When we have the ball in there, we’ve got to score.” 

The Eagles scored their lone goal against Mechanicsburg on a penalty corner. Sophomore Phia Hunter assisted senior Lauren Savidge, who was positioned on post and found the gap for the score.

Mechanicsburg earned 10 penalty corners. And, Cumberland Valley had seven.

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