ORONO – The University of Maine field hockey team is off to its best start since it won its first eight games in 2018.
The Black Bears received a first-half penalty stroke goal from fifth-year senior center back Poppy Lambert and second-half goals from Kent State University transfers and graduate students Victoria Tinghitella and Alexandra Sacker en route to a 3-1 victory over Hofstra at the UMaine field hockey complex on Friday.
UMaine is now 3-1 after winning its third straight game while Hofstra fell to 0-2.
It was an evenly-played first half with few good scoring chances until the last five minutes of the half when the Black Bears took control and created a number of opportunities.
One of the opportunities came off a penalty corner and led to Lambert’s penalty stroke.
A UMaine shot that appeared headed for the back of the cage was stopped by the body of a Hofstra player, resulting in the penalty stroke.
And Lambert calmly converted with a rising shot over the right shoulder of the helpless Hofstra goalkeeper Pieke Roos.
It was her first of the season and 51st of her career, six behind the school record owned by UMaine Sports Hall of Famer Kelly Newton.
“I just trust my gut and hope for the best,” said Lambert.
The Black Bears had two glorious chances to extend the lead.
Saylor Kuefler had a redirection off an Olivia Geniti shot that forced Roos into a nice reactive save with her hand.
Seconds later, Kate Richardson threaded a pass to the wide open Kuefler in front of the cage but the pass handcuffed her and she couldn’t tap it into the open net.
The Black Bears took that momentum into the second half and completely dominated the third quarter, pinning the Pride in its own end and earning five penalty corners to none for their guests.
They converted off a corner 4:51 into the period with a perfectly-executed passing sequence.
Geniti inserted the ball to graduate student fullback Sacker and she slid it across to Lambert.
Lambert whipped the ball across to the middle of the penalty circle and forward Tinghitella deflected it between Roos’ legs for her second of the season.
Roos made a number of saves to keep her team in it as UMaine outshot Hofstra 7-1 in the third period.
But, in the fourth quarter, Sacker notched her first of the season with a rocket from the top of the circle off another penalty corner to extend the lead to 3-0.
Geniti inserted it and Tinghitella directed it over to Sacker.
“It was just a straight strike from the top that found the bottom corner,” said Sacker.
The Black Bears struggled to score goals off penalty corners a year ago but have been much more efficient so far in the young season and have unveiled several different options..
“We’ve been working really hard (on penalty corners) in the preseason and, even last spring, to come up with a lot of creative and dynamic options just so we can have a lot of different people on the ball,” explained Lambert. “We have different looks on different sides of the goal. We see what we can work with and move around the defense a bit more.”
“We’re working hard to find the right lanes to go through. That’s the most important thing,” said Sacker. “We’ve been finding them and finding the net, too.”
She added that having different options on the penalty corners “creates a lot of chaos for the defense.”
Teresa Karoff scored off Hofstra’s only corner of the second half as she swatted home a rebound with 3:46 left in the contest.
UMaine had a 14-8 edge in shot attempts, 9-7 in shots on goal and a 13-4 advantage in penalty corners including 8-1 in the second half.
“We picked up speed after the first quarter and didn’t slow down,” said Sacker.
“It was a great home opener,” said Tinghitella.
UMaine goalkeeper Rozarie Mrazova and Roos each made six saves.
UMaine head coach Josette Babineau was pleased with the win.
“Our second, third and fourth quarters were solid,” said Babineau. “We were a little disorganized in the first quarter.”
She said she wondered if her team would be a bit sluggish after a three-game trip to Indiana.
“We found our legs as the game went on,” said Babineau.
Hofstra first-year coach Hillary Fitts, who replaced former UMaine standout and assistant coach Courtney Veinotte from Skowhegan, said her team had come out flat in a season-opening 3-0 loss to Old Dominion “but we came out with a purpose and really wanted it today.
“The players should be very happy with how they played. We just have a couple of things to clean up,” said Fitts.
UMaine will host Central Michigan on Sunday at 1.
Mallory Mackesy, UMaine’s leading scorer a year ago and a second team All-America East selection, is now playing for Central Michigan after transferring.
Central Michigan and Hofstra will play on Saturday at 2 at the UMaine complex.
By BDN – US
