The Cranston co-op field hockey team is off to a nice start in Division III as it improved to 4-1 with recent wins and sits in second place behind Classical.

The Thunderbirds made a statement last week when they held off Toll Gate for a 3-2 win on the road. Cranston held a 2-1 lead late in the second half, but Toll Gate would get a goal with 6:48 remaining in the fourth quarter to knot things up.

Cranston rebounded and senior captain Lily Tillinghast found the back of cage to get the eventual game winner with 3:08 remaining. It was her first goal of the game while Elizabeth Biegel scored two as well.

“I just said, ‘we need to be on the same brainwaves and get this goal back,” said Tillinghast, who is thrilled to see the team surging early as it looks to compete for a championship.

“It feels great to be winning and to be climbing that ladder. Our communication was great today, our coaches have been stressing communication. Our spacing was really important. We’re so prepared. When I started three years ago we barely had a team, this year we started in the summer and really built our foundation. We’re definitely more prepared than other years,” said Tillinghast.

The Thunderbirds were back in action on Monday when they took on Woonsocket. The team added another win, getting goals from Tillinghast and Reece Vitale. Three players netted their first career goals, including Yeimy Escalante, Norma Cruz and Amareya Clark. Mia Santomassimo finished the day with a pair of assists.

The Cranston program struggled for a number of years and was barely able to field a team just three seasons ago. Now, numbers are strong and the Thunderbirds return after breaking through and reaching the playoffs last year.

With much of the same core intact for three seasons, the team finally feels that its championship window has been opened.

“It’s all about building confidence. It’s about climbing one step up that ladder toward being in the championship. It’s another step, and every win their confidence gets that much bigger,” said coach Matt Davis, who also credited the players for their commitment in the offseason.

“This is my third season and the first that the kids wanted to do a summer league. They competed last season and then wanted to do a summer league, they didn’t want to stop. They were committed and they did it, so when we started, they had already been scrimmaging and playing for six weeks, they were far ahead. We’re full steam ahead right now.”

Davis has already seen the preseason work pay dividends.

“They’re confidence is through the roof right now and they’re seeing it. They’re working well together as a group, they’re communicating, it’s all gelling,” Davis said.