The University of Maine Field Hockey team opened the America East portion of their schedule on Friday and Sunday afternoon by hosting UNH and Albany at the Maine Field Hockey Complex in Orono. Maine would pick up a win in both contests to extend their win streak.
On Friday- Maine got two goals from Poppy Lambert and two from Sydney Meader to pull away from their rivals UNH 5-1. Lambert opened the scoring on a penalty stroke tally 2:43 into the first quarter, before Meader had her first of the day to make it 2-0 with 3:21 left in the first half. Julia Ross extended the advantage to three with her second goal of the season in the third, before the Wildcats got on the board 1:29 later when Tamera Cookman scored. Lambert and Meader finished off the scoring 3:27 apart in the fourth quarter. Lambert finished with two goals and an assist for three points, while Madysn Hartley had two assists, and Tereza Holubcova along with Kate Richardson had one helper each. Mia Borley made five saves in net, as the Black Bears had a 17-7 shots on goal advantage. Jenna Woods made 10 saves for UNH (3-6, 0-2 America East) in the loss.
On Sunday- In a rematch of last year’s America East Championship game, Albany used a tough defensive approach to shut down Maine most of the game outshooting them 15-4. The Great Danes got a goal from Floor de Ruiter in the third quarter at 5:42, and almost made it hold up. The Black Bears got a penalty shot rewarded with one second left in regulation, and Lambert converted her third goal of the weekend to send it to overtime. The teams played through a pair of 10 minute overtime periods without any scoring, so like last year’s title match it would go to a shootout to decide a winner. The Black Bears converted on all five shootout attempts including the one that ended it by Ross, extending their win streak to five. Borley made 14 saves in net, as Maine improves to 6-3, 2-0 in conference. Hannah Mangan had three saves for Albany who falls to 6-3, 1-1. Maine will be at UMass-Lowell next Friday at 3 p.m. to take on the Riverhawks.
