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It was another strong season for one of the top private schools programs in the tristate.

The Hackley School in Tarrytown (NY) finished 14-5, advancing to the NYSAIS semifinals where the third-seeded Hornets’ season ended with a 13-12 overtime loss to No. 2 Fieldston.

Hackley had entered 2015 with back-to-back Ivy League titles and three straight NYSAIS championships.

For a look at the 2016 Hornets, we turn to senior captain Nick Gutfleish.

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound longstick midfielder, who is bound for Tufts University, has earned all-league honors the last two seasons. He had 63 groundballs in 2015 and showed his stick skills by registering eight goals and two assists.

Gutfleish was also a team captain in football as a wide receiver/linebacker. He was named to the prestigious Golden Dozen team by the Westchester chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, honoring the top-student athletes in the area.

Now, here are Nick’s perspectives on the season.

What have you been doing to get ready for the season?
Most of the team and I have been in the weight room lifting everyday making sure we are in peak physical condition for the season.

We also have team wall ball sessions once a week as well as a winter league game at Chelsea Piers (Stamford).

How does your schedule look, what games are you looking forward to most, and who are some of your scrimmages against?
We’ll be scrimmaging Westlake High School, as well as a few other schools down in Florida on our spring break trip. As always, we are looking forward to our games against Rye Country Day and Fieldston because we took some tough losses from them last year, with Fieldston knocking us out of the playoffs. Stepinac and Albany Academy should be good games as well.

What players on your team do you think will surprise some people this season?
I think the whole team will come through and surprise people this year, as we have a lot of kids who will be stepping into bigger roles. Junior goalie Dave Streit is coming into his second year as a starter, and he should have a big year.

What do you think the strength of your team will be this year?
I think our athleticism will be the strength of our team. We graduated a lot of great seniors including our entire starting defense, but I feel we should be able to make up for our lack of experience with our athleticism and hustle.

How do you view the race in your league and who do you think some of the contending teams will be?
The race in our league should be interesting this year, as most teams graduated a strong senior class last spring. Fieldston won the league last year, so they’re the team to beat.

What were some of the key factors that went into your decision to commit to Tufts and what other colleges did you consider and visit?
I really loved the size and location of Tufts, with the opportunity to explore a wide variety of potential academic interests being particularly appealing to me.

Additionally, the program has been very strong the past few years, and the coaches teach a style of play that suits my game well.

I also strongly considered and visited Middlebury and Amherst.

* Preseason player perspective archive

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