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![STICK-OUT- Maine´s Liz Mendell [right] lunges after the ball during Maine´s Friday game against University of Maryland Baltimore County. Maine won the game 5-1.](http://mainecampus.bangorpublishing.netdna-cdn.com/files/cpmedia/087e5772.jpg "STICK-OUT- Maine´s Liz Mendell [right] lunges after the ball during Maine´s Friday game against University of Maryland Baltimore County. Maine won the game 5-1.")
The University of Maine field hockey team picked up two more wins over the weekend. On Friday, the Black Bears defeated conference opponent University of Maryland Baltimore County 5-1 for their first conference victory on the year. They followed up the win with another victory on Saturday against Rhode Island 4-0. Traci Rainone scored three goals on the weekend, two of them on Saturday.
Against America East opponent UMBC, the Black Bears scored early and often. Senior Emily Dooling got things going with a tally at 5:31 by in the first half. Senior Liz Mendell assisted her on the play. Less than three minutes later, Rainone scored off a pass from Rachel Hilgar. Meghan Connolly scored off a pass by sophomore Joanna Fernandes with less than seven minutes to play in the half, giving Maine a 3-0 lead. Amy Morrow scored for UMBC just before the half, cutting the Maine lead to 3-1 going into the break.
Junior Kasey Spencer put the game away for good in the second half with two late goals. Her first goal was unassisted, coming at the 47:09 mark. At 53:27, Liz Mendell assisted Spencer on her second goal. The score came off a fastbreak, which gave the Black Bears the 5-1 win. The goals for Spencer were her third and fourth goals of the season.
“The scoring thing’s kind of new to me,” said Spencer, “but I like it.”
Goalkeeper Jamie Morin, who was named America East conference player of the week on Tuesday, had another solid weekend for the Black Bears. She allowed just one goal in the two games, and the one that got by was an awkward one.
“It kind of bounced over everyone,” said Morin. “It went by three people in front of me and went by me. It was kind of a flukey goal.”
Head coach Terry Kix was pleased with her team’s defense and its sudden burst of offense.
“We haven’t had too many games this year that we’ve had a lot of scoring,” said Kix. “It was nice to have an offensive explosion.”
On Saturday the Black Bears offensive explosion was led by seniors Hilgar and Rainone. Rainone scored two goals, which were both assisted by Hilgar. Hilgar also tallied her own goal that was assisted by Rainone. The first goal came on a penalty corner by Rainone, with 9:20 gone by. Hilgar pushed the score to 2-0, when she knocked in a loose ball in the 13th minute. Rainone would score again with just under 20 minutes remaining in the game, to give Maine the 3-0 lead. Meghan Connolly scored her fifth goal of the season on another penalty corner with 7:03 remaining. Shaunessy Saucier and Emily Dooling assisted on the play.
Morin made six saves in the shutout win and Maine outshot URI 31-11. Maine’s offensive attack did not let up.
“We’re starting to pick up our attack,” said Rainone. “We need to score goals coming into our conference games.”
The Black Bears play New Hampshire next Sunday at 1 p.m. on Morse Field. The game will be the third straight home game for Maine.
Head coach Terry Kix hopes her team can carry over their strong play to next weekend.
“I think we need to build on what we did well these last couple games,” said Kix. “I think our team defense has been outstanding. I think we’ve had very consistent defense all year, and now I think our offense is getting more confident. We’re taking advantage of our opportunities and that’s what we need to do.”
Bangor Daily News