FARMINGTON – University of Maine at Farmington field hockey (11-4) had four different players score in beating Thomas College (4-12) in the North Atlantic Conference East Semifinal on Wednesday.
UMF will now advance and host the winner of Husson and Colby-Sawyer on Saturday.
UMF put the offensive pressure on early in the game, sophomore Emma Marineau (Green, Maine/Leavitt) scored at 4:09 in the first half to give the Beavers the early lead. Thomas had its best opportunity to score midway through the half with three straight penalty corners but were unable to produce a shot on the cage.
Nickyia Lovely (Gardiner, Maine/Gardiner) scored just before the half to give UMF a 2-0 lead at the break. Carly Raymond (Topsham, Maine/Mt.Ararat) broke in on goalie Abbie Charrier who was able to make the initial save on Raymond’s shot but the ball deflected to Lovely who fired it home for the goal.
Emmah Spahr (Winthrop, Maine/Winthrop) scored her 19th goal of the year at 36:57. The goal tied the single-season record for goals set in 1995 by Kelly Duffy. Raymond dribbled down the right side of the circle and centered the ball in front of the goal and Spahr was waiting on the opposite post to punch it in for 3-0 UMF lead.
Jenessa Talarico (Lewiston, Maine/Lewiston) scored the final goal at 43:07. Lovely entered the ball into the circle from the top to Talarico who controlled the ball and fired a shot that got past Charrier for the score and final margin of victory.
Patty Smith (Gorham, Maine/Gorham) made one save to pick up her 10th win of the season. Charrier made 10 saves in the loss.
UMF outshot Thomas 21-2 in the game, but Thomas was able to produce more corners at 11-9.
This will mark the third straight year that UMF will be playing in the championship game and the first time the game will be played at Prescott Field during that time period.
