It’s hard to see the progress the Poland Knights’ field hockey squad has made simply by looking at the team’s record.
But it’s there, and it’s obvious to those around the program.
“We’ve had some lean years here in recent years,” Poland coach Amy Hediger said. “Now we have a full JV team, a middle school team and we’ve started up a youth program that I had 27 kids in this summer third through sixth grade. It’s getting there. We haven’t won a game yet, but we’re definitely closing the gap.”
Helping the Knights along the way this season has been a patient and steadfast goalkeeper in the cage, Melora Lavoie. In the team’s most recent game, against Sacopee Valley, Lavoie turned back 25 of the 31 shots she faced despite a loss.
“She’s been amazing this season, and she’s really improved a lot on coming out of her net,” Hediger said. “We’re working on her diving so she can be even more aggressive and cut down even more chances.”
Only a junior, Lavoie is likely to be a big piece of the Knights’ plan in the next year and a half.
As is junior captain Paige Brousseau, the team’s center midfielder.
“She’s her solid, usual self,” Hediger said. “She’s come through well as our captain, and she’s only a junior.”
Even the attack wings — Mimi Carmichael and Amanda Gibson, are sensing the team’s urgency to play hard on both ends of the field.
“(Carmichael) plays on the front line, and she’ll just appear on defense and take away a chance,” Hediger said.
The hard work and the extra depth hasn’t yet translated to a win. But the Knights are getting closer. They battled to a draw with rival Gray-New Gloucester, and they’ve scored five goals this season, more than all of last season combined.
“It’s a start, and it feels like we’re going in the right direction,” Hediger said.
On top looking down
The competition hasn’t changed, but the Lisbon Greyhounds’ classification has, leaving the field hockey squad in an unfamiliar place at the midpoint of the season: looking in the rear view mirror.
As of Tuesday night, Lisbon held the top spot in the Western Class C rankings, a spot traditionally reserved for the likes of Telstar, Livermore Falls, Jay or North Yarmouth Academy. With Jay and Livermore Falls now combined as Spruce Mountain and in Class B, and Lisbon now in Class C, and with Telstar trailing the pack as it tried to rebound from a senior-heavy team a year ago, the Greyhounds have all of a sudden become front-runners.
“The girls are excited, and I’m excited for them,” Lisbon coach Julie Wescott said. “Now we know, though, that other teams will be gunning for us.”
And they’ve done it with a balanced attack. Through Wednesday’s games, the Greyhounds have scored 34 goals while allowing only five and posting four shutouts.
“Our philosophy’s really changed a bit,” Wescott said. “We don’t rely at all on one person or even a tandem. We don’t key on certain players. Everyone is really involved in the play, we pass the ball a lot and we’re really supportive of each other.”
Steady improvement
Opening the season with an eight-goal loss wasn’t fun, but when Dirigo nearly held on for a draw against the same Winthrop Ramblers squad the second time through, there was plenty of room for excitement on the Cougars’ sideline.
“We really have come a long way this season,” Dirigo coach Gretchen Errington said.
The reason? Nothing in particular, Errington said.
“They’re all just doing the little things together,” she said. “They’re looking to each other to pass all the time. We have a really young team and we had a lot to learn along the way. we still do.”
Even better for the Cougars, none of the players has shone above the rest.
“It seems to be someone different every time,” Errington said. “They really work well together.”
Looking for a victory
Thirteen field hockey programs across the state continue to search for their first victory of the season nearly halfway through the campaign, but 11 of those teams have mustered at least a tie.
The most unique situation of all winless teams belongs to Mt. Ararat. The Eagles have only three losses in seven games, but their other four games all resulted in ties. The Eagles are currently hanging on to the eighth and final playoff position in Eastern Class A, one place ahead of Lewiston, which has a pair of wins and a pair of ties.
Western Class B has the most teams still looking for a win, with four — Oak Hill, Gray-New Gloucester, Morse and Poland all having tied one game.
Avoiding a loss
Many familiar schools dot the list of teams that have yet to suffer a loss. Multi-time state champion and perennial Eastern Class A favorite Skowhegan continued its torrid pace in the first half of the season, running off seven wins against no losses. In doing so, the Indians have also scored 42 goals while allowing only two (a pair in a tight, 3-2 win over Messalonskee).
Three teams — Cheverus, Sanford and Scarborough — remain unbeaten in Western A, though only Cheverus is also without a tie.
Spruce Mountain leads Class B with a perfect 6-0 mark, while Nokomis and Belfast each have one tie and no losses.
Dexter, as is the norm, remains the only unbeaten team in all of Class C.
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