The University of Maine field hockey roster is sprinkled with nine in-state players and all have appeared in at least three of Maine’s first four games to date.
The Black Bears are 1-3, but the three losses were by one goal to teams ranked in the nation’s top 16 when they played them. And two came in overtime.
Head coach Josette Babineau said she has been very happy with the performance of the in-state players as well as the entire team.
“The team has played really well. I just wish we had at least one more win so the players could feel a little bit better. We’re heartbroken because we came from behind in our two overtime losses,” said Babineau, who is in her seventh season at Maine.
Maine lost to No. 16 Michigan State 5-4 in overtime, erasing 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to take a 4-3 lead. The Bears were defeated 1-0 by No. 12 Stanford 1-0 and 3-2 in overtime by Massachusetts after erasing 1-0 and 2-1 deficits.
“You don’t know how things are going to go in those games [against nationally-ranked opponents], but we battled for the win in all three games,” said Babineau, whose team visits Burlington, Vermont, for games against Harvard and Hofstra on Saturday and Sunday.
The team’s home opener is Sept. 20 against Bryant University.
Three in-state players start for the Black Bears in sophomore midfielder Marissa Shaw of Plymouth and Newport’s Nokomis High and backs Becca Paradee, a senior from Gardiner, and Nicole Sevey, a junior from Skowhegan.
Sevey has scored two goals.
Skowhegan junior Jessica Skillings (assist) sees plenty of duty up in front as part of a five-forward rotation; Belgrade and Messalonskee High of Oakland sophomore Lynnae Luettich and Bradley and John Bapst of Bangor senior Bri Robertson rotate in at midfield, and York senior Hannah Keating and Skowhegan redshirt freshman Adriana Martineau see service in the back.
Luettich is a transfer from Appalachian State, where she had four goals last season.
True freshman Madison Cummings of Belfast has been getting some limited time up front, too.
Sevey is an inserter on penalty corners, and Shaw, who also sees duty at forward, stops the ball for the shooter and plays on defensive corners.
The Black Bears, according to Babineau, are a “pretty experienced group,” and she feels they will contend for the America East title and its first NCAA tournament berth, especially if the team can learn to move the ball out of the back quicker to prevent opposing forwards from pressuring them.
The Black Bears have been paced by two seniors, Canadian national team forward Holly Stewart (2 goals) and midfielder Annabelle Hamilton (1 goal, 2 assists).
Stewart will miss this weekend’s games to play for the Canadians in a tournament in Mexico, said Babineau.
Junior forward Cassidy Svetek leads the team in scoring with three goals and one assist.
Senior Zoe Berkey (2 assists) and freshman Sydney Veljacic start in the midfield, and sophomore Danielle Aviani (2 & 1) and senior Abbey Gutkowski (0 & 1) start up front. Junior Kate Bingle is a regular in the back.
Sophomore Emma Cochran and redshirt freshman Emily Corbett have shared the goalkeeping. Corbett transferred from Old Dominion.
They were inexperienced entering the season but both are progressing, according to Babineau.