A few things stand out when you watch the Stonington High School field hockey team practice.

One: it looks like an army.

The Bears, who began defense of their Class S state championship when they opened the season Tuesday night against Waterford, had more than 80 players sign up for the sport. With the numbers thinning since then, coach Jenna Tucchio still looks at 60 or more players jogging on and off the turf for practice every day.

"It's the biggest team I've ever had," Tucchio said.

Two: If you look carefully among all the players in different colored pinnies, the Bears still have senior forward Molly Crowley, who scored six of the team's eight goals in the state tournament a year ago.

Crowley, The Day's 2013 All-Area Player of the Year who had 22 goals and two assists last season, ended a recent practice with a reverse stick for a goal in a 4 v 4 situation.

"We can't do anything better than that today," Tucchio said with a laugh of choosing to close with that particular repetition.

Stonington (18-2) defeated Granby Memorial 1-0 last Nov. 16 to win the program's first state championship since 1987. It was the Bears' second straight appearance in the finals.

Despite losing first team all-state selection Tia LaFrance-Boyce, as well as the program's all-time leading scorer in Elizabeth Morrison, Tucchio hopes playing at that championship caliber is now part of the program's fabric.

"Our goal is to make sure we stay there, make sure we have a semifinal team or a state championship team (every year)," said Tucchio, in her 11th season. "These kids are so proud. They want it to be, 'This is who we are now.'"

In addition, Tucchio has an inkling that Crowley, who has been an All-Eastern Connecticut Conference first team or honorable mention selection since her freshman season, when she played the sport for the first time, can be even better.

Crowley will move from left wing - "she was probably the best we've ever had at it," Tucchio said - to center forward. She will serve as the team's co-captain, along with another senior forward in Meagan Dreher.

"She's going to blossom," Tucchio said of Crowley. "It will give her options. She can come down the field and make her own decisions. It will give her more flexibility."

Stonington has won 22 ECC titles in the last 23 seasons, going 13-1 in the league last year. Killingly (9-4-1) was second, followed by Norwich Free Academy (9-5) and East Lyme (8-4-2).

Also represented in the ECC this season for the first time: Ledyard. The Colonels are part of a cooperative program with Fitch.

Ledyard had a handful of players who wanted to compete in the sport and Fitch coach Diane Kolnaski, whose own team fought its way to the varsity level four years ago, wasn't going to be the one to say no.

"We were in that same boat," Kolnaski said. "We wanted to have a team. ... The Ledyard girls honestly are awesome. Ledyard doesn't provide them with any transportation and I give them a ton of credit, they get to my practices on time."

The Falcons (5-9-2) lost six seniors, including four-year starting goalie Emma Nolan, but Kolnaski is hoping the team can reach the state tournament this season after missing by a single point a year ago.

v.fulkerson@theday.com

Twitter: @vickieattheday