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The University of Maine field hockey team was unable to recover from a 2-1 deficit against the University of New Hampshire Saturday. The loss dropped the Black Bears to the third seed in the America East Conference playoffs. UMaine finishes the regular season at 14-3 and 3-2 in conference play.
A victory would have brought the America East Championships to Orono, giving the Black Bears the top seed if they had defeated the Wildcats. Instead, UMaine will travel to Sweeney Field in Boston next weekend. The Northeastern University Huskies earned the right to host the championships with a 2-1 victory over Boston University Saturday. The Boston University Terriers provided UMaine’s other conference loss this season, and they will not appear for the first time in tournament history.
The BU loss frustrated the Black Bears, and UMaine senior Kristy Ferran recently told Bangor Daily News reporter Larry Mahoney her thoughts on the loss in regards to a matchup with New Hampshire.
“We were definitely disappointed,” Ferran said. “That showed our team that we can’t take anybody lightly.”
The Black Bears did not take the Wildcat defense lightly, outshooting their opponent 21-11, but UMaine registed just one goal in the contest despite several quality scoring opportunities.
Wildcats head coach Robin Balducci felt her team had a sluggish start but capitalized on their limited scoring opportunities.
“It was evident that we got off to a slow start, but I was pleased with the way that we got back into it and settled in,” Balducci said.
New Hampshire has a record of 10-1 in games where the Wildcats scored the first goal, and it was they who struck first on a penalty corner goal at 13:35 into the game. Sophomore Nikki Pandolfo and junior Jen Stamp set up Jenn Harrison at the top of the circle to start the play. Harrison, also a sophomore, fired a hard shot just inside the post and to the left of UMaine goalkeeper Colbey Smith. Smith, who split time in goal with junior Jaye Lance, finished the day with two saves.
The lead remained 1-0 into halftime, but New Hampshire didn’t waste any time in the second half, scoring at only 6:47 into play. Once again, the Black Bears fell victim to a UNH penalty corner play, extending the lead to 2-0 on junior Courtney Goodwin’s first goal of the season. New Hampshire standout midfielder, senior Marcie Boyer, assisted on the play.
UNH goalkeeper Christine Buckley finished the day with 10 saves. However, she was unable to preserve the shutout when UMaine cut the Wildcat lead in half with 21:30 remaining on a goal by senior Tara Bedard.
Bedard, who tallied her 11th goal of the season, was set up by fellow senior forward Ferran. Ferran dribbled the ball into the circle and took a shot to Buckley’s left that deflected right to Bedard. Bedard was waiting all alone at the left post to put the ball in the back of the cage.
Although the goal added intensity to the Black Bears’ offense, UMaine could not convert on several opportunities, incluing a shot that hit the left post with 10 minutes remaining in the game.
The Black Bears pulled their goalkeeper with 1:47 remaining in the game, but could not register a goal with the one player advantage.
UMaine looks to improve in their next contest, a rematch with the Wildcats in the single elimination America East Playoffs next weekend. New Hampshire is seeded
second and will face off with UMaine next Friday following the Northeastern/Vermont game.
The winner of the America East Championship will receive an invitation to the NCAA Tournament.
