Chloe Walton scored with 6:33 left in the fourth quarter Friday afternoon, as the #22 University of Maine Field Hockey team rallied past the University of California 4-3 in America East action at the Maine Field Hockey Complex in Orono. The Black Bears have now won eight games in a row.
A back and forth first quarter saw Maine strike fast, as Walton tallied just 33 seconds in. California would get the next two to take a 2-1 lead at 6:01 and 8:19 on goals by Caoimhe Byrne and Kiki Bruijne. The Black Bears tied it up when Poppy Lambert scored her first of two on the afternoon, coverting on a penalty stroke with 2:04 left in the opening period. The visiting Golden Bears took their final lead when Sara Stone found the net off a penalty corner opportunity late in the third quarter at 13:42, as Cal took that one goal advantage into the fourth. Lambert made it 3-3 on a penalty corner just 31 seconds into the final 15 minutes. The game winner by Walton was a beautiful one, as she cut past her defender to the right of California goaltender Cato Knipping and slammed a backhanded shot into the top corner of the net. The guests had one more great chance to even the score as Sophie Everett cut in front for an open shot on Maine goalie Mia Borley, but Borley kicked it out with her pad with 4:15 remaining.
Along with the two goals each from Walton and Lambert, Tereza Holubcova added two assists while Mia Hartley had one. Borley had seven saves, as Maine improved their record to 9-3 and 4-0 in America East. Knipping had seven saves in the loss for California, as their record drops to 3-7 and 2-2 in the conference. Both teams had plenty of chances on penalty corners, which ended 10-9 in favor of Maine. The Black Bears head out on the road on Sunday afternoon for a non-conference matchup at Providence College.
