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The University of Maine field hockey team increased their winning streak to four this weekend as they defeated the Yale University Bulldogs and the Colgate University Red Raiders at the field hockey complex. UMaine improved their record to 4-1 while Yale University fell to 1-2 and Colgate University dropped to 0-5.
On Friday the Black Bears faced off against Yale. It was a physical game, which included two green card penalties against UMaine players Maire Dineen and Michelle Niedziejko. UMaine struck early as Dineen knocked one in off a corner at 2:49 in the assist by Lelia Sacré.
The Black Bear defense remained solid throughout, killing off four penalty corners, while goalie Brittany Fleck posted four saves.
Only seconds into the second half, the Black Bears added to their lead as Kelly Newton tipped in a Stephanie Gardiner hit.
Late in the second half, the Bulldogs got their second wind and found the goal twice with less than one minute to tie the game. Dinah Landshut and Mandy Sharp scored at 56:46 and 57:02, respectively.
Following the two goals, UMaine head coach Josette Babineau refocused her team.
“Yale is a good team, and coming back changed the atmosphere of the game. We had to refocus to try to generate a penalty corner before going into overtime,” Babineau said. “After two quick goals, it was all mental.”
While the team wasn’t able to prevent overtime, it took only minutes for the Black Bears to seal the victory when Jocelyn Mitchell broke away from the pack to score the winning goal to end the game in sudden death 3-2.
Sunday afternoon came with the Red Raiders looking for their first win of the season. Maine came out swinging once again as Newton scored at 14:07 off a Kallie Aldus pass.
As the first half began winding down, the Black Bears kept the pressure on, and within less than a minute Mitchell and Newton both scored to increase the lead to 3-0. The first half ended on a penalty corner where the fourth UMaine goal of the day was scored off the stick of Molly Arute.
The second half continued the Black Bear scoring as Stephanie Gardiner and Chelsea Wagner scored within the same minute at 52:35 and 52:56, respectively. Gardiner wasn’t done yet, though, as at 54:40 she notched another goal on a Michelle Niedziejko assist to make the score 7-0.
“The second half, we seemed to have a lot more space in the defense, I think they were getting tired so we were able to get more shots off,” Gardiner said of her two hard-drive goals.
Colgate had one final burst of energy as they scored at 61:01 to prevent the shutout, but UMaine had the game in hand as they cruised to their fourth victory in a row.
Coming up for the Black Bears is a seven-game road trip that will test the team’s skills and ability to adapt.
“It can be tough, being on the road, because you travel and then you play, and then we travel through the night, so all three games will be tough,” Gardiner said.
Babineau, however, is trying not to look too far ahead.
“We are going to be playing three games in four days. And when we go to Michigan, we are going to be facing two strong opponents, but we don’t want to look ahead past this weekend yet. We are around the mid-phase of our season and these good teams are getting us ready for the playoffs.”
Bangor Daily News