Two-time All-State field hockey player Lilla Tilton-Flood from Clinton and Lawrence High School in Fairfield has verbally committed to attend the University of Maine.
Midfielder/defender Tilton-Flood intends to study molecular and cellular biology, and she said she is receiving a presidential scholarship for academics.
She has already been accepted into the school and met NCAA eligibility requirements.
Tilton-Flood was a midfielder for the Bulldogs and helped lead them to a 23-5 regular season record the past two seasons.
She also has played for the prestigious Waterville-based Maine Majestix club program since she was in middle school.
“She has always been focused and a hard-working player,” said Majestix coach Amy Bernatchez. “She is very consistent. I have never left a game feeling Lilla had an off-day.
“She’s not fancy, but she gets the job done,” added Bernatchez.
“She’s a quiet player,” Majestix coach and former UMaine standout Katie (Flaherty) McCabe said. “If you don’t [specifically] watch her, you don’t realize how good she is. You never worry about her. She doesn’t make mistakes. If someone comes down the field in a one-on-one against her, you know she is always going to come up with a good play.”
Tilton-Flood said she is “very excited to be a Black Bear.”
Tilton-Flood, who has grown up on the family’s large dairy farm in Clinton, said she had originally intended to attend UMaine because she wants to be a geneticist and it had the field of study she sought.
“One of my Majestix teammates, [Messalonskee of Oakland star and UMaine-bound] Riley Field, told me Maine was looking for one more player,” said Tilton-Flood.
Tilton-Flood asked McCabe if she should look into it, and McCabe said she should.
Tilton-Flood contacted UMaine head coach Josette Babineau and assistant Courtney Veinotte and eventually met with them. The meeting went well, Tilton-Flood said.
Bernatchez and McCabe said Tilton-Flood’s career had a breakthrough two years ago after she began working out at Littlefield’s Gym in Oakland.
“She had all the skills, but she needed the strength, and after working out at Littlefield’s Gym, she really increased her strength and her speed,” said McCabe.
“I was never a natural athlete, but after working out at Littlefield’s Gym, I got a lot stronger, and I noticed one night at practice I was able to keep up with one of the fastest girls on our team,” said Tilton-Flood, who said that she has a “defender’s mindset.”
The 17-year-old continues to work out at Littlefield’s three times per week, focusing on different parts of the body, and she and Field also are going to focus on improving their skill sets over the summer.
“She has worked hard for everything she has. And she’s very smart. She will be a great asset to that program,” McCabe said.