Sabrina Vaillancourt has been one of the more lethal offensive weapons in Class B field hockey over the last four seasons.
The Nokomis of Newport forward made her presence felt early and often, scoring a freshman school-record 13 goals en route to a program-high 70, easily eclipsing the old mark of 53 by Liz Mendell.
All that hard work has led to Vaillancourt being nominated for the state’s top field hockey honor as she is one of four finalists for Miss Maine Field Hockey.
Vaillancourt joins Makayla Hancock of Skowhegan, Hannah Prince of Gorham and Brittany Ross of Scarborough, and the award will be announced at the Maine Field Hockey Coaches Association’s banquet on Dec. 6 at the Augusta Civic Center.
Vaillancourt was a vital cog to a Nokomis team that won an Eastern Maine Class B championship in 2008 and appeared in the regional championship game this fall.
“She’s pretty much been the driving force behind us having that much success,” said Nokomis coach Katie Thompson, who just completed her seventh season. “She’s been consistently one of our top players every game.”
Vaillancourt’s breakout season was her junior campaign when she scored 26 goals, which led opposing defenses to put the clamps down on her this year.
Not that it worked a whole lot, as Vaillancourt not only scored 20 goals but dished out 10 assists.
“This year she was marked much more tightly by other teams, so she had to dish the ball a lot more,” Thompson said. “She was working a lot harder just to get the ball.”
Vaillancourt, also a basketball standout at Nokomis, has been a leader on and off the field.
“She’s not only obviously a great person on the team who can score a lot of goals, she’s definitely one of those kids you love to have on your team,” Thompson said. “She’s a good hearted, good spirited kid, good sense of humor, team player, definitely going to be missed next year.”
Vaillancourt and Jordan McInnis formed a dynamic offensive duo for Nokomis, as McInnis also tallied 20 goals on the year.
“[McInnis] has really looked up to [Vaillancourt],” Thompson said. “She’s definitely been an inspiration to some of her teammates.”
The nomination was something Vaillancourt didn’t expect.
“I think it’s a little bit humbling for her to be among so many talented athletes,” Thompson said. “She’s a little bit shocked being recognized with those three. I think she’s just been really committed to field hockey, she really appreciates all the recognition that she’s received.”
And so it begins…
Many people would agree that it’s a little too early to be thinking about anything that has to do with winter, as Thanksgiving is still a week and a half away and state championships in football have yet to be decided.
But there is a sign of winter — albeit a small one — at high schools throughout the state as basketball teams opened tryouts Monday, the first day the state’s winter sports squads could kick off the preseason.
Games and meets can begin on Dec. 4, only three weeks away.
Plenty of girls teams should make noise in new classes this winter, such as Nokomis of Newport in Class B and Foxcroft Academy, Woodland and Central of Corinth in Class C.
The Central Red Devils did well in the Class B ranks last winter, as they were the only team to defeat regional finalist John Bapst in the regular season and earned a preliminary-round berth.
With almost their entire corps intact, led by juniors Rebekah Campbell and Hannah Pray and seniors Jocelyn Portman, Sam Blanchard and Katie Day, Central could make another postseason run in Class C this season.
“I think the girls learned a lot in Class B last year, they learned how to compete at a higher level with some teams,” said coach Diane Rollins.
Campbell, a 6-foot-2 center, gained a lot of confidence last year.
“At the beginning of her sophomore year, [she] didn’t want the ball,” Rollins said. “By the end of her sophomore year she wanted the ball, she was going up strong and she was rebounding better. She had more confidence in her play.”
