Swampscott was playing its first match of the season, but the chemistry was already in midseason form. Communication and passing were in sync, and players knew where their teammates were going, seemingly before they did.

It was a combination of intangibles that a well-experienced team would seem to have in a battle that ended in a 0-0 tie at Gloucester.

The thing is, the Big Blue field hockey team doesn’t have a single senior. And there are only two juniors on the roster.

Swampscott graduated eight seniors — six of them starters — after last season, when the squad fell just short of making the tournament. But despite their youth, the Big Blue seem ready to win now.

“The chemistry this year is just unbelievable,’’ said sophomore Sydney Cresta. “And we’ve been playing with each other for so long, it’s like we all know each others’ playing type and we all help each other out and we pick each other up all the time.’’

Swampscott has a middle school field hockey program, so many of the girls have played together for more than three years.

“When I took over three years ago, there was no sophomore class,’’ said head coach Jamie Spano. “My first year we had low numbers, so I got a waiver to have the eighth-graders play for [the junior varsity] and I had 14 come up . . . so my current sophomores now have been with me the past three years.’’

The juniors who are serving as captains, Sydney Faulkner and Michaela Freddo, are both in their third year of varsity competition.

“Last year, I kind of stayed back and let the seniors do what they wanted and I watched,’’ Freddo said. “During games I didn’t say anything, I just did my part and I was just kind of quiet, and now this year I can speak my opinion and say I want everything to roll out.’’

Faulkner also is ready to step up. “We’re not scary at all,’’ she said. “We’re welcoming, we want to push them to their limits and see them do their best, and that’s how we want them to see us.’’

Spano is comfortable with the two juniors leading the way.

“I think it’s great,’’ Spano said. “They’ve been at this level for three years now and being able to be at this level, they’ve kind of seen the past two years what works, what doesn’t work. So now I think they’re completely ready to take over and lead this program. Plus, they’re so much more comfortable now because they’ve had so much experience at this level, so it works out great.’’

Between seasons, members of the team frequently got together and played to stay in tune and keep improving.

“They work so hard all summer,’’ Spano said. “They were so ready for this season, especially after last season, not making the tournament.

“And honestly, they’re such a hard-working group of kids, they don’t even think about the fact that there aren’t any seniors. But we’re definitely aiming for the tournament this year, especially because we didn’t make it last year, so we kind of have a chip on our shoulder because of that.’’

It’s hard not to think ahead to next year, when the entire team will return with a season of varsity experience. But a simple philosophy helps keep the Big Blue in the moment while building for the future.

“We really just have to focus on our weaknesses more than our strengths, that way we’re strong all around,’’ said sophomore Sarah Ryan.

“We’re definitely looked upon as the underdogs, but there’s so much more than us than that,’’ Freddo said. “I think people are going to be really surprised.’’

Logan Mullen can be reached at logan.mullen@globe.com.