ORONO- The University of Maine and University of New Hampshire women’s soccer teams scratched, clawed, and battled hard for the entire 90 minutes during a 1-0 Black Bears win in the regular season finale in Durham back on October 31. On Sunday afternoon, the hosts took care of any nerves of a tight game pretty early on against the Wildcats at Mahaney Diamond. Jordane Pinette and Abby Kraemer both scored in the first 11 minutes of the match, as top seeded Maine cruised to their second straight America East Championship with a 3-0 win.
It took Maine just three minutes to notch the eventual game winner by Pinette. A lead pass just ahead of Abby Kraemer was played by UNH goalie Sally Rainey, and with Kraemer crashing hard at the net front Rainey made a slide to avoid her that sent the ball right out to Pinette at the top of the 18 who sent a left-footed kick into a near empty net.
The Kraemer sister combination came through in the 11th minute. Kayla from the left side sent a beautiful set piece to Abby on the doorstep, who easily beat Rainey inside the left corner to extend the lead to a pair. The Wildcats best chance of the first half came within just under 10 minutes left, as a shot from the box by Delaney Lappin was stopped via a diving save by Black Bears freshman goalie Grace Wilson.
Maine (13-1-3) continued to limit space for UNH in the second half, as the Wildcats tried to turn up the pressure. The Black Bears would put it away in the 67th minute, as Abby Kraemer dropped a pass out to Lara Kirkby at the 18 who drilled a shot up high past Rainey into the right corner of the net as Maine will carry an 12-game unbeaten streak (11-0-1) into another opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament. They also extended their Mahaney Diamond unbeaten streak to 27 games (17-0-10) that will be safe at least until the beginning of the 2025 season.
Wilson, who took over the netminding in the postseason when Jessica Kasacek was unavailable due to personal reasons, posted her second straight shutout of the playoffs by stopping five shots. She has a 3-0 record in goal on the year, with all three being of the shutout variety. Abby Kraemer and Kirkby had a goal and an assist, while Kayla Kraemer and Victoria Dungey added an assist each. UNH actually led in overall shot attempts 12-9 (5-5 on net), while Maine had an 8-3 edge in corner kicks. Rainey made two saves in the loss for the #2 Wildcats, who were seeking their third title as they finish their season with a record of 12-5-1 with two of those defeats coming to the Black Bears. Maine, who lost at Harvard 3-0 in a first round NCAA Tournament game in 2023, will await their time, location, and opponent for the 2024 NCAA Tournament during the selection show on Monday at 4 p.m.
At the conclusion of the game on Sunday, the America East announced their 2024 All-Tournament Team. Here is the list-
Myla Schneider (Maine)- also named MVP
Lara Kirkby (Maine)- also named Elite 18 Award winner with a 3.98 grade point average majoring in biology
Emma Schneider (Maine)
Abby Kraemer (Maine)
Elizabeth Finn (UNH)
Megan Logue (UNH)
Abbi Maier (UNH)
Megan Banzi (UMass-Lowell)
Emma Mitchell (UMass-Lowell)
Brooke Herber (Binghamton)
MacKenzie Ryder (Binghamton)
Laney Ross (Bryant)
All photos and videos by Chris Lessner
