USM at Williams in ECAC tourney

Two Eastern Maine college freshmen get their first opportunity to particiate in postseason play Wednesday when the University of Southern Maine field hockey team meets Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., in a 2:30 p.m. ECAC Division III quarterfinal.

USM, under 25-year head coach Paula Hodgdon, is seeded seventh in the tournament with a record of 11-5-3 and meets No. 2 Williams, coming into the tournament at 11-2.

In the other quarterfinals, No. 1 Trinity, 13-1, will host No. 8 Wheaton. Bangor sophomore Debbie Larkin is a member of that team whose record is 13-4-1. No. 3 St. Michael’s of Colchester, Vt., 14-1-2, will host No. 6 Connecticut College of New London, 9-4-1; and No. 4 Smith of Northampton, Mass., 11-6, will host No. 5 Elms of Chicopee, Mass., 15-3-1.

The semifinals will be played Saturday at noon and 2 p.m. at the home fields of the higher-seeded team, with the championship set for Sunday noon at the home field of the higher-seeded team.

USM freshman Cary Ouellette of Pittsfield, who has seen action in 13 of 19 games, will get the starting nod in place of the injured Melissa Emery who has two goals for the year. Emery has a knee injury that may require surgery. Freshman Judy Searles of Skowhegan has appeared in 15 games for USM.

Hodgdon, whose teams have participated in postseason play for five straight years, wanted to return to the NCAA playoffs after making appearances from ’88 to ’90. USM won the NCAA Division III Northeast Regional title in ’87 and went to the Final Four. The Huskies won their first ECAC crown in ’86.

“I hoped we’d get back to the NCAA,” Hodgdon said, “but we lost to Salem State and Colby, and tied with the University of Maine-Farmington, which was unranked. That hurt us. We did well out of our region when we tied Smith and Oneonta, and that made us look good. I think we’re probably in that caliber and could beat four or five of the bottom 20 teams, but we just didn’t show it at home.”

So USM will concentrate, instead, on winning another ECAC title.

“I feel we’re capable of taking the whole thing,” Hodgdon said, “but we’re going to Williams and they’re good. They’ve only lost to Clark and Trinity. I think, if the right team gets off the bus, we can play a good game. We’re capable of that.”

“The right team” will have to be a very strong defensive team, or a scoring team.

“We’ve been very inconsistent this year,” Hodgdon said. “Because we’ve not been able to score many goals, we’re at a disadvantage. We’re not a scoring threat. I thought we would be, with 10-11 good forwards. They’re all skilled players, but they just score here and there. It’s hard for us to come back after one goal.”

But that’s where goalie Kim Shaw has made a tremendous difference.

“We have to prevent goals and score as many as we can,” Hodgdon said. “I have to give a lot of credit to Kim. Her stats are very strong and, without her, we might have lost a lot more. Her worst game was against St. Michael’s when she let three in, and that’s way above her average.”

Shaw’s statistics are impressive.

Playing in all 19 games, she has allowed only 10 goals and has recorded 12 shutouts. Her goals-against average is 0.49 and the Portland junior holds the school record for career shutouts with 25.

Offensively, USM is led by senior forward and tri-captain Tiffany Dickinson with six goals.