Nichole Poulakis had two goals on Friday, and Kathelijne Knuttel had a second quarter game winning tally as the University of New Hampshire held on to defeat Maine 5-3 in the America East Field Hockey semifinals at UAlbany Alumni Field in Albany, New York. The Wildcats move on to battle Vermont in the championship game on Sunday afternoon.
UNH, who as the #2 seed had a bye on Thursday for the quarterfinals, showed no signs that a week layover since their last game bothered them. They stormed the Maine net scoring twice in a span of 54 seconds in the first quarter by Brecken Calcari at 4:32 and Poulakis at 5:26. The Wildcats had a 7-0 advantage in shots on goal in the first 15 minutes. They continued the onslaught in the second period, as Poulakis got her second of the match at 6:41. After Jayde Temby was replaced in the Black Bears cage by Rozarie Mrazova, the sophomore Knuttel put another one on the board for the eventual game winner at 9:24 to make it 4-0. Maine though came to life, dominating the final 5:36 of the first half to get back in the game. Off a penalty corner inserted by Olivia Geniti, Kate Richardson who scored the game winning goal in the quarters on Thursday, put one in just 34 seconds after the Knuttel goal to cut it to 4-1. It took just 1:20 to find their second marker on another penalty corner taken by Geniti, and this time it was Alexandra Sacker converting. Zoe Furber would then score on a breakaway at 12:23, and all of a sudden it was only a 4-3 deficit at the break.
UNH extended their lead back to a pair in the third quarter on a partial breakaway goal by Faye Meijer at 7:35. Maine looked like they had once again cut it to a one goal deficit with one second left in the period on a corner opportunity. The Black Bears found the back of the net, but the referee called it off due to his decision that it was a purposeful kicking motion off a foot out in front. Maine had one penalty corner in the fourth to try to again get within a goal, but couldn’t come through. Mrazova did make several big saves to keep them in it including two or three point blank Wildcat chances and also one on a penalty stroke with 7:31 remaining, but her team came up short in attempting to get back to the title game for the first time since 2021.
Temby make six saves in goal in 23 minutes in the loss, while Mrazova in her final collegiate game stopped five in relief for #3 seed Maine. Furber had a goal and an assist, while Lambert and Geniti each had an assist. The Black Bears were outshot 18-12 (16-8 on net), but did have plenty of chances with a 7-4 edge in penalty corners in ending their season with a record of 11-9. Along with the two goals from Poulakis, Knuttel was also a multiple point scorer with a goal and an assist in the UNH win. Abby Johnson made five saves in net, as the Wildcats avenged a 2-0 loss to Maine in the regular season finale on November 1 in Orono. UNH (10-9) will take on Vermont (10-8) on Sunday with a start time of noon with the winner advancing to the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats beat UVM 3-2 in their regular season meeting. The top seeded host and nationally ranked #14 Great Danes were upset by the Catamounts 1-0 in the other semifinal Friday afternoon, the first ever win for Vermont over Albany.
