Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
The University of Maine Field Hockey team got off to an impressive 3-1 start. After opening 1-1 on the road the Black Bears returned home for a weekend stint where they defeated Fairfield and Siena. They opened the season on the road by beating Davidson on August 31st and then lost a close game to Temple 2-1 the next day.
Maine, lead by senior midfielder Karly Bundy and senior goalkeeper Jaye Lance, came into the season ranked 3rd in America East, which is where they finished last season. There are high hopes for Head Coach Terri Kix and her young team. Kix, in her 13th year as head coach, has enjoyed a lot of success at Maine, yet the hopes have perhaps never been as high as they are for the 2003 season. Kix has been named America East Coach of the Year three times including last season. The Black Bears have eight returning starters from a year ago, which may be what Kix needs to repeat as Coach of the Year and return her team to the America East Championship game.
It will be a long road for the team, but their journey is well underway. In their game against Davidson, Bundy was the difference scoring two goals in the second half to lead her team to a 3-1 win. Emily Dooling had a goal and an assist. The team fell short 2-1 to Temple, the lone goal scored in that game came from Karyn Magno. However, the winning goal for Temple did not come until there were 59 seconds left in the game.
Maine returned home last Friday for their home opener against Fairfield. Jaye Lance grabbed her first shut-out of the season while sophomore Shaunessy Saucier scored the first goal of her college career. Junior Rachael Hilgar added another with less than a second remaining in the first half. She was assisted by Karly Bundy and Amie Dubois. Coach Kix was very pleased with her team’s performance.
“We played a great defensive game. I was very pleased with the energy,” she said.
Maine kept the pressure on the entire game and out-shot Fairfield 17-3. When Fairfield stepped up its defense in the second half, so did Maine. Fairfield did not have any shots on goal for the entire second half.
Fairfield coach Jackie Leonard said of Maine’s performance, “This is the best team we have played.”
On Sunday the Black Bears defeated Siena at home. Juniors Emily Dooling and Traci Rainone scored two goals apiece for Maine to lead their team to a 4-1 victory over a Siena team that fell to 0-4 in the season. The Black Bears out shot Siena 28-5 and held a 15-3 advantage in penalty corners.
Maine will host Quinnipiac on Sunday at noon on Morse Field on Sept. 14 before going back on the road for seven games straight. After the game on Sunday, they do not return home until Nov. 11 for conference play.
Bangor Daily News