When Audrey Larson (Gilroy, Calif./Gilroy) made the decision to leave her California home and experience life as a student-athlete at the University of New Haven, she did not want to limit her travels from Gilroy, California to West Haven.

With the semesters flying by, Larson was able to cross studying abroad off her bucket list with four unforgettable months in Italy during the spring.

"Going into college, I knew I wanted to study abroad because I don't really know when else I would get the opportunity to live in a different country for four months and not have to commit to a job," Larson said.

"It was always something I wanted to do. I am graduating in December and the opportunity to go was last spring so I took it."

While Larson was overseas, she traveled to Croatia, France, Great Britain, Spain and Switzerland as she took advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

She did not forget about what awaited her upon the return to New Haven. As a key member of the Chargers' field hockey program, Larson did her due diligence when it came to putting herself in the best position for success for the upcoming season.

"When I wasn't traveling, I was going to work out every week," Larson said. "There are a lot of hiking and walking paths so I would go on some long-distance runs and do some sprints while I was there.

"I didn't get any field hockey in specifically but I was still able to work out and you are walking everywhere."

Larson has been a regular on the Northeast-10 Academic Honor Roll since arriving at New Haven as she is considering using her degree at New Haven to go into human resources.

On the field, in 37 games at New Haven over the last two seasons, Larson has six goals and an assist as she helped the Chargers become competitive in the challenging NE10.

Former head coach Kelsi Lykens took the head coaching job at Lehigh and Margaret Mclean came in from Division III Allegheny College.

"The team is looking good," Larson said. "We have a new coach and I think we are all just figuring it out. I think we are starting to click really well."

Maclean admits that things will look different when it comes to the formations and the style of play as she puts her own stamp on the New Haven program.

"There are a lot of changes, but they have had really good open minds," Maclean said. "I've heard it is different from the last coach. If it is a good thing/a bad thing, I have no idea, we'll find out. There will be some changes and we will look like a different team this fall."

The season opener is on Aug. 31 at Kutztown with the home opener coming versus Molloy on Sept. 5.

New Haven went from going 7-28 and 6-21 in conference play in a two-season stretch to making the jump to a 19-21 record and 17-10 mark in the NE10. Now the goals are set even higher.

"Top four [in the NE10]," Larson said. "We are trying to get into the top four. Hopefully, we will get further than that. Definitely, getting into the NE10 championships would be ideal."

There are some holes to fill with the top two scorers (Sophie  Schreck and Taylor Geaglone (Enfield, Conn./Enfield)) gone as is starting goalie Keira Integlia (Branford, Conn./Branford). Kat Trammel (Sandy Hook, Conn./Newtown) is the top returning scorer with four goals and five assists.

Erin Smith (Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks South), Kelli Jacobson (North Branford, Conn./North Branford), Abby Nixon (Wrentham, Mass./King Phillip Regional), Sophia Ruh (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City), Olivia Chase (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus), Brynna Courneen (South Dartmouth, Mass./Oliver Ames / Portsmouth Abbey), Paige Garrett (Fleetwood, Pa./Fleetwood Area) and Johannah Lee (State College, Pa./State College Area) join Larson as players who got into the scoring column a season ago while Sydney Moda (Methuen, Mass./Central Catholic) appeared in more than 10 games during the 2022 season.

"It is about figuring out how we play," Larson said. "I think we all have great attitudes.  We all want to be here and that is the big thing.

"We all want to work hard for each other and we are going to do the little things."