University of Maine field hockey captain Hannah Abbott from Portland was trying to describe her thoughts on playing on the team’s new artificial turf surface and renovated stadium.
“I can’t even put it into words,” Abbott said. “It’s beautiful, it’s amazing. It’s everything we thought it would be and more.”
Fifth-year senior midfielder Madisyn Hartley from Pittsfield shared the same sentiment, as did senior center back Poppy Lambert.
“I’m so happy to be a part of the team that is able to get [to play on] this,” said fifth-year senior midfielder Madisyn Hartley from Pittsfield. “I’m really lucky.”
Not only will the UMaine field hockey team have a new turf field this season, it appears that the perennial America East title contenders will be putting another top-quality product on that surface. Expectations are high despite losing league Offensive Player of the Year and third team All-American forward Chloe Walton, along with All-America East second team selections Sydney Meader, a forward, and goalkeeper Mia Borley.
The Black Bears have won back-to-back league regular season titles after sharing the championship with now-departed Monmouth the previous season.
UMaine’s 8-0 conference record last year was the first time the Black Bears went undefeated in league play. Their conference record over the last three campaigns is 22-2.
But after winning the tournament two years ago in Orono and earning their first NCAA Tournament appearance, the host Black Bears were upset by fifth seed Stanford 3-1 in the semifinals last fall.
The Black Bears were picked to finish second in America East this season in the annual coaches poll, which was released on Thursday.
Defending tourney champ Albany was picked to win it, garnering eight first-place votes with UMass Lowell picking up the other one.
Abbott said the loss to Stanford in the semifinals will serve as extra motivation.
“We had a great regular season but, obviously, it didn’t end how we wanted it to in the playoffs,” Abbott said. “I know what a championship feels like and I want that bad.”
Head coach Josette Babineau is optimistic about the season.
“We will have a lot more depth in the midfield and our back line is basically the same,” Babineau said. “We’re going to have to work hard on our goalkeeping and forward line in the preseason and our exhibition games. We will have some patience and give it some time to make sure we’re ready for conference play.”
Headlining the list of returnees is America East Defensive Player of the Year and second team All-American Lambert, who scored a school-record 22 goals last season, mostly off penalty corners. She had seven game winners and tallied 51 points, as she also had seven assists. The 51 points tied the school record.
Lambert’s 1.16 goals per game average last season was third in the country among 77 programs. She has scored 44 goals in just 52 career games.
She will be flanked on the right side by Abbott, who has appeared in 57 career games, and on the left by senior Kristiana Walker, who played in all 19 games a year ago.
Junior Avani Gill and freshman Eloise Penty will provide depth in the back.
Fifth-year goalkeeper Mallory Drayer, who has played in 12 career games, will finally get her chance to earn significant duty with highly touted Australian freshman Jayde Temby vying for playing time.
“Mallory played in all of our spring games and has been in our program for a long time,” Babineau said. “Obviously, she hasn’t been in a starting capacity but she still has a lot of experience.”
Now that she is in position to be a starter, Babineau said Drayer will have to “change her thinking and approach to the season.”
Hartley, who had a goal and 18 assists a year ago, and Czechia National team player Tereza Holubcova (3 goals, 14 assists) will be two of the important catalysts in the midfield, along with Skowhegan’s Bhreagh Kennedy (4 & 2). Olivia Geniti played in all 19 games and fellow sophomores Zoe Furber and Julia Berk also received a little playing time a year ago and will be expected to contribute more with a year of experience under their belts.
There are also three promising freshmen in the midfield in Brianna Townsend from Newport, Bryynn Dzengelewski and Saylor Kuefler.
On the forward line, Canadian National team player Mallory Mackesy had 11 goals and three assists as a freshman last season and was named to the America East All-Rookie team.
Kate Richardson (1 & 1) played in 18 games as a freshman and sophomores Taylor Stanford and Taylor Katsube received important playing time in limited service and should also be making a significant jump this season.
“It’s exciting. I’m seeing a lot of people ready to step up,” Lambert said. “They’re showing a lot of energy. And we have an amazing group of freshmen. They’re working hard and adapting well to our style of play, which is awesome.”
Abbott said that losing a dynamic 11-goal scorer and playmaker in Walton is going to be tough to replace but she said the young players learned a lot from her and are ready to fill the void.
“We’ve always had a good attack and been able to score a lot of goals,” Babineau said. “We usually lead the conference in that category. Our midfield will have to step up and score more.”
She anticipates her team being in lower-scoring games this season.
UMaine averaged 3.42 goals per game en route to its 14-5 campaign last season, which was third-most in the country.
UMaine will play exhibition games against Stonehill and Merrimack before opening the season by hosting Boston College on Friday, Aug. 25 at 1 p.m.
