The Thunderbirds are making it look easy, but they know winning a championship won’t be.

The Cranston co-op field hockey team continues to surge as it has flown to first place in Division III and has emerged as the favorite to win the title in a few weeks. The Thunderbirds boast a 10-0-1 league record, with the tie coming on opening day against Classical. The team most recently shut out defending champ Smithfield in a 3-0 win and topped the Purple 2-0 at home last Saturday.

Cranston has gotten contributions across the board and boasts perhaps the deepest lineup in DIII. Between standouts like Ashley Budano, Grace Shulze and Abby Theul up front, Reece Vitale at midfield, Alejandra Gonzalez, Cora Dempsey and Michelle Kim in back, then a seasoned goalie in Savanna Theroux, the Thunderbirds have virtually no weaknesses and the results have reflected that as they get ready to make a push for the top seed.

“These girls started in the summer and took it upon themselves to get better. They’ve been working together since the summer which has been beneficial. We’ve come so far this year and all of our girls are playing well,” said coach Matt Davis. “Our forwards, defenders, our goalie, even our subs. All of the girls have bought in and are loving it.”

It would be easy for the team to be thinking championship given the dominant start, but Davis has made sure the players have not forgotten about the past few seasons. The Thunderbirds lost in a heartbreaking shootout in the opening round in 2023 then fell in the semifinals in 2024. Classical entered last year’s postseason as the undefeated top seed but suffered its first loss in the title game against Smithfield. 

“(The losses) hurt and I remind them of that. Classical was undefeated last year and lost in the championship game. I try to keep them as humble as possible and as hungry as possible. We don’t look ahead, though, we take it one day at a time,” Davis said.

Cranston has a firm grasp of first place in the RPI standings and would need to go ice cold in the final five games to fall to second.

However, the team has not paid attention to opponents, standings, schedules, as it is dialed in on whatever the next match brings.

“We’re not looking ahead, we’re not looking at the rankings. We don’t know what other teams are doing, we don’t care,” said Davis. “We only worry about ourselves and they’re playing really well. It’s been a joy to watch them play, they get it.”