WATERVILLE, Maine – The University of Maine at Farmington field hockey team saw its season come to a close on Friday evening after suffering a 7-0 defeat at the hands of Thomas College in a Central Maine Collegiate Field Hockey Conference (CMCFHC) Semifinal. Farmington entered the contest as the No. 3 seed, while the Terriers were the No. 2 seed.
The two teams were very familiar with one another after squaring off each of the previous two weekends. The Terriers squeaked out a 3-1 victory on October 25th at Prescott Field before topping the Beavers 9-3 at home last weekend.
How It Happened:
After scoring five goals a week ago against Farmington, Kara Richards continued to assert herself against the Beavers, netting her first of three goals just 50 seconds into the game to stake the Terriers to an early lead.
Thomas quickly doubled its advantage just two and a half minutes later when Samantha Thebarge slapped a shot past senior goalkeeper Ella Grant (Sturbridge, Mass.) off a penalty corner inserted by Maci Freeman.
Following Thebarge's goal, Grant and the rest of the Beavers' defense settled in and kept the Terriers off the scoreboard until the opening minutes of the third quarter. Senior defender Elizabeth Kendall (Guilford, Maine) recorded a defensive save — her team-high fourth — midway through the first quarter to keep Farmington within striking distance.
The Terriers made it a 3-0 lead just 31 seconds into the second half as Richards tallied her second goal of the evening off a feed from Thebarge through a well-executed penalty corner.
Freeman later found an open Richards in the 37th minute, who muscled home a shot past Grant to make it 4-0 and complete her hat trick.
The scoring in the third quarter wasn't done for the Terriers. Tatiana Roque stickhandled her way through the Farmington defense before sliding a shot into the back of the cage to make it 5-0. A second goal from Thebarge in the final two minutes of the quarter, once again off a penalty corner, extended the lead to six heading into the fourth.
Paige Gilbert tacked on a goal in the 58th minute as Thebarge picked up her second assist to close out the scoring.
Farmington spent much of the contest in its defensive zone and was unable to register a shot in the game.
Stats of the Game:
Shots: Thomas 31, Farmington 0
Shots on Goal: Thomas 16, Farmington 0
Penalty Corners: Thomas 16, Farmington 0
The Goalkeepers:
Grant finished with eight saves in the hard-fought loss for the Beavers. Eliya Drummond and Mackenzie Toner combined for the shutout victory.
The Terriers will advance to face top-seeded Husson University on Sunday in the CMCFHC Championship, a rematch of last season's final.
