ORONO, Maine — She has endured surgeries to both knees and a bunch of other nagging injuries including a back ailment.
But Lewiston’s Laura Martel has remained healthy this season and the results speak for themselves.
The University of Maine’s senior striker is leading America East in virtually every offensive category entering today’s 2 p.m. league quarterfinal at Alumni Field in Orono against New Hampshire.
Maine, the third seed, has the league’s longest winning streak at four games. The Bears are now 8-5-2 overall, 5-2-1 in league play. Sixth seed UNH is 4-13-1 and 3-5, respectively.
Martel has scored 12 goals, which is five more than Boston University’s Emily Pallotta. She also leads the league in points (25), shots-per-game (3.73), points per game (1.67) and goals per game (.80) and is tied for the lead in game-winning goals (4).
She is 16th in the nation in goals per game.
“I didn’t expect any of this,” said Martel, who became the first Black Bear ever named the conference’s Striker of the Year Wednesday. “I didn’t expect to be the leading scorer. I’ve just been playing my game.
“But it feels good to score goals again,” added Martel. “It definitely makes a difference being healthy.”
Her season comes on the heels of an injury-marred 2008 campaign.
She had a hat trick in Maine’s season-opening 3-0 win over Sacred Heart (Conn.) but, two games later, she sustained a knee injury and didn’t score another goal while being sidelined most of the year.
“It was frustrating being hurt,” said Martel. “But I did rehab all summer and was up here doing things to make sure I don’t get nagging injuries. I worked out with the team.
“It feels great to play a whole season,” she said.
UNH coach Michael Jackson, a University of Maine-Presque Isle graduate, called Martel a “classic goal scorer.
“She’s one of the best strikers in the conference,” added Jackson. “She could be quiet for 89 minutes but then score a goal between the 89th and 90th minutes.”
Maine coach Scott Atherley calls Martel “the cornerstone of our attack.
“The thing I’ve been most impressed with is her consistency. Her performance has been very consistent from game to game. That’s the mark of a great goal scorer and forward. She doesn’t just show up for one or two games. She has a presence every game. You’d be hard-pressed to find many players across the country with her numbers.”
Maine senior midfielder Cristina Di Ielsi said “we wouldn’t have had the success we’ve had without her.
“She has been our backbone. She has such power and determination in everything she does,” said Di Ielsi. “Once she gets the ball in front of the net, it’s going in because of the person she is.”
Martel, a 2006 America East All-Rookie team choice and 2007 second team All-America East selection, credits her teammates with making her 12-goal season possible, saying it has been “a team effort.”
And isn’t the least bit concerned with statistics or post-season honors.
“We just want to win the America East championship. We have a big senior class, six of us, and we’ve been working hard since our freshman year for this. We really want it. It’s really important to us,” said Martel whose 24 career goals place her tied for third on the school’s all-time list.
Martel, who was also an All-America East first-team pick, was one of four Bears to receive a postseason honor.
Senior center back Anjelica Hodgson joined Martel on the All-America East first team; midfielder Di Ielsi was a second-team pick and Meagan Price-Leibenzeder was an AE Rookie team pick.
The reliable Hodgson has anchored a Bear defense that has allowed only 16 goals in 15 games and posted seven shutouts; the omnipresent Di Ielsi has been an influential midfielder who is equally adept in the defensive third or triggering an attacker and the composed and athletic Price-Leibenzeder has posted a 1.05 goals-against average and a .775 save percentage with six shutouts.
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