At the end of last season, after the Southern Regional field hockey team had just lost to Rumson-Fair Haven in the Shore Conference Tournament championship, head coach Jenna Lombardo couldn’t say enough good things about her team. Even at that moment, she was looking ahead to this fall.

“Of course, I’m already excited about next year,” she said at the time. “We’re still building. We still have things to improve. We’re going to keep pushing until we’re holding that trophy Rumson just won.