Guilford — Before the season began, the players on the Stonington High School field hockey team sat down and created a mission statement to convey what the Bears are really about.

It wasn’t about themselves.

It was about the legacy of the program, how it began and the numerous state and Eastern Connecticut Conference championship that have ensued, the traditions, the pasta they consume.

“All of the girls said legacy and traditions were a huge part of the program for them, so I think it’s part of what keeps girls coming back,” Stonington senior Anna Lettiere said. “You know someone that played with the program and had all these great traditions and I think it definitely makes it special.

“I feel like it’s a very special team. It’s a family.”

Stonington was missing part of its family for Saturday afternoon’s game against Guilford, with the death of former head field hockey coach Janis Ingham on Friday. Ingham, who lived in Mystic, was 69.

Ingham, a retired physical education teacher in Stonington and a member of the Stonington Athletic Hall of Fame, was the field hockey coach when current head coach Jenna Tucchio and assistant coach Lauren (Ellis) McGugan were players.

Tucchio wore Ingham’s brown Stonington field hockey jacket, with “Janis” stitched on the front left, for Saturday’s game, a 2-1 loss in overtime to powerful Guilford.

McGugan read an inspirational poem of Ingham’s prior to the game and the two coaches brought “Bear,” a stuffed animal which formerly belonged to Ingham when she coached, along with them for the bus ride.

Tucchio said that Ingham’s death brought her back to thinking about her players’ mission statement. The current players didn’t know Ingham, but still have an appreciation for what she wrought.

“When I came back to that, I said, ‘You know, these kids really appreciate what’s been built and that was built starting with her,’” Tucchio said. “... It went right to my heart thinking about her last night because the things she started live on in these kids. It lives on in their passion and enthusiasm for the game and what’s important to them is the same thing that was important to her.”

Stonington took a 1-0 lead against Guilford with 5 minutes, 54 seconds remaining in the third quarter when Lettiere dribbled into the circle and sent a ball rattling off the goalie, tipped in by Marina Lewandowski.

Caroline Hergan tied it for Guilford with 8:47 remaining in the fourth, and, following a final penalty corner opportunity awarded Stonington with 51 seconds remaining, the teams embarked on a 7-on-7 overtime session. Hergan scored the game-winner 3:15 into the 10-minute overtime.

During the game, meanwhile, Tucchio, clad in Ingham’s jacket, shouted instructions:

“Who’s there?” ... “Who’s helping?” ... “Go, Marina, go! Send it forward!” ... “Who’s trailing?” ... “Tempo, Bears!” ... “Be ready, Bears!”

“She definitely is the reason why I love hockey,” Tucchio said of Ingham. “... She was a great inspiration and a great coach and a great human being and people just gravitated to her.”

“It’s very important,” said Stonington senior Lindsey Houle, whose mother, Ann-Marie (Crowley) Houle played for Ingham in high school. “Obviously, we’re a very successful program, but ultimately the traditions, what we do before games and after games and pasta dinners, is what you’re going to remember when you graduate. I think it just puts it in perspective.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com