FARMINGTON — The University of Maine at Farmington athletic department held two senior day ceremonies for the men’s and women’s soccer team Oct. 27.
The women’s soccer team honored seven seniors. Callie Hammer, Adriana Novella, Haley Fletcher, Elena Guarino, Leah Stevens, Mckenna Brodeur, and Shukri Abdirahman were all recognized for their contributions to the UMF community and athletics department.
The group has experienced immense success, including a North Atlantic Conference Championship victory in 2018, and a championship game appearance in 2019.
In their final regular-season home game, the Beavers fell to Thomas College 2-1. Farmington outshot Thomas 15 to 4 and had 8 corner kicks to Thomas’ 2. Despite the limited scoring opportunities, Thomas scored two goals in the second half to clinch the victory. At the 52-minute mark, Terriers forward Katriana Pratt scored. Just 17 minutes later, Pratt scored again.
The Beavers responded to the two goals by amping up their defensive intensity and drives. This culminated with senior captain Mckenna Brodeur connecting in the 82nd minute of play. The goal marked Brodeur’s 13th goal of the season, the 65th of her career.
The loss snapped the team’s four-game winning streak. Despite the loss, the Beavers clinched the third seed in the NAC East bracket, with an overall record of 7-10-3 and 3-2-0 in the NAC East play.
The women will travel next week for the NAC tournament to Castine, Maine, home of Maine Maritime Academy. There, the group will face Husson University, the second seed, on Oct. 30. Husson holds an overall record of 10-4-2, while 4-1-0 in NAC East play.
On the men’s side, the group’s four seniors were honored in a pre-game ceremony. James Pelletier, Silas Mohlar, Bradley Neal, and Josh Castonguay received recognition for their contributions to the program.
Thomas College upended the festivities by defeating UMF 2-0. The Beavers played a strong first half, outshooting Thomas 9-2. Early in the second half, UMF’s Yusuf Mohamed received a red card. The Terriers capitalized on this, with Princiel Kunieki scoring at the 66-minute mark. Kunieki completed his strong offensive performance with another goal at the 75th mark, providing Thomas with a comfortable 2-0 lead.
This lead would be maintained as the Beavers were unable to convert, despite outshooting the Terriers 13-7.
