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The three seniors on the University of Maine women’s soccer team made sure their last regular season match on Alumni field was a memorable one.
Senior forward Christine LaBelle netted her team leading fifth goal of the season, and senior goalkeeper Jasmine Phillips recorded her 35th career shutout to lead UMaine to a hard fought 1-0 victory over the University of New Hampshire Thursday on Senior Day in Orono.
The third senior, Kim Stephenson, was also praised by UMaine coach Scott Atherley for winning several key balls from her position at midfield.
The Black Bears improve to 6-4-6 overall, and 3-2-2 in the America East conference, and secured a spot in the conference tournament with the win.
“It couldn’t have been any better for the three seniors,” described Atherley proudly.
It will be the sixth consecutive playoff appearance for the Black Bears, who lost in the quarterfinals last year to Stony Brook.
LaBelle’s goal came in the 31st minute of the first half when she found an opening in the UNH defense and fired a hard shot from the top of the 25-yard box to the top left corner of the goal. UNH senior goalkeeper Nikki Golding made a lunging effort at the ball but could not make contact.
“I think it was Ally [Krous] that had delivered the ball to me, and our other forward had slipped in behind the defender so it opened up that huge space for me in the middle,” described LaBelle of her 5th goal of the season. “I just kind of turned and thought and kind of went for it, and had the chance to shoot and I delivered the shot and it went in the back of the net.”
“There should have been pressure on the ball,” emphasized UNH coach Michael Jackson. “The kid [Labelle] who took the shot didn’t have any pressure.”
New Hampshire (6-10-1, 5-3-0) was hoping to secure home field advantage in the playoffs, but instead had to wait until the remainder of America East teams concluded their regular season schedules on Sunday to determine whether they will receive a first round bye in the tournament.
“They play high pressure team defense and it’s tough to keep the ball against them,” admitted Jackson. “They play good hard team defense, and they’re tough to move the ball around. It’s a credit to them. That’s a typical Maine team. They do it well.”
The Black Bears kept Golding busy in the first half, dominating the shot total 9-2. Golding made three saves in the half, but Jackson elected to rest his starting goalie in the second half, replacing her with junior Ally Yost.
“We have two very good goalies, and we just felt like we wanted to inject some more energy into the defense because we felt we weren’t responding well to the way they were attacking,” explained Jackson.
The action became increasingly physical in the second half, as expected in the rivalry of the neighboring states. Desperation kicked in for the struggling Wildcats, resulting in thirteen second half fouls between the teams.
“It’s really important to stay composed because if one person starts snapping, or not keeping their composure it typically influences the rest of the team, and you don’t want to have that happen,” expressed LaBelle, who serves as the team’s captain.
UNH leads the conference in goals scored with 24, recording multiple goals and all but two games since the middle of September. Senior strikers Sara Hourihan, and Michelle Sheehan, who have 7 and 6 goals this fall respectively, lead the offense. Sheehan has played in just ten of seventeen games this season.
UMaine backs Christina Di Ielsi, Anjelica Hodgson, Sady Tobin, Hailey Blackburn, and Kaitlyn MacIsaac limited the Wildcat offense to just three shots on goal.
Along with the Wildcats ability to manufacture offense, they have also given up 28 goals to their opponents.
“We’re very confident in our defense, and we just knew we had to get a good chance and get one in on them,” said Atherley.
The Black Bears took just one shot at Yost in the second half, while the Wildcats forced UMaine’s goalie Phillips to make the only three saves asked of her in the match. UNH led UMaine 6-5 in the second half shot total.
The Black Bears finished the regular season on the road Sunday in Stony Brook, New York, against Stony Brook University. They will begin the America East playoffs later this week on a date and site to be determined, depending on the results of the weekend games.
“I think this does so much confidence for us, because it takes the pressure off on Sunday,” said Atherley of the win. “This win is deciding that we have a winning season, and that’s a big thing, and we made the playoffs, those are two big goals of our season every single year.”
LaBelle is optimistic about her team’s chances heading into the playoffs.
“I think if we go in with the mentality of wanting to win, we can beat anybody. I have complete faith in our team in that sense.”
Walking off the field, LaBelle reflected on what may be her last match on Alumni field.
“This was a very special game, because they stole one from us last year so it was a bit of a redemption game. As always with New Hampshire it’s just a battle. It’s a big rivalry in the school. Also, this is potentially the last home game for me and for the rest of the seniors, so it was a definitely a very important game, a fun game for me.”
Bangor Daily News