Work ethic key for youthful Braves Husson field hockey shows progress in rallying past UMF for league crown

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As the Husson College Braves headed into their third straight Maine Athletic Conference championship game on Sunday, Ruth Fitzpatrick was confident in her field hockey squad.

“I knew player for player, we were as good as Farmington,” Fitzpatrick said. “But we were very young.”

This is how young: Of Fitzpatrick’s 11 starters, six were sophomores. Five were freshmen.

For a while, the Braves played like the young players they were, and spotted the Beavers a 2-0 lead.

“With about 22 minutes left, I called a timeout and I talked to the girls about how they needed to play as a team and how they needed to support each other,” Fitzpatrick said.

Husson promptly got to work. First, Amanda Brown scored on a penalty stroke. Then Nicole Palmer scored the equalizer. Goalie Shani Hollins came out and made a few huge saves. And finally – with 28 ticks left – Jen Comeau scored the game-winner and gave the Braves a 3-2 win and the MAC crown.

The Braves, who are an NCAA Division III entry in field hockey, do not advance to any further regional or national competition, as teams in other sports do. But the 9-4 record and league title are fine with Fitzpatrick.

This season was Fitzpatrick’s third with the Braves, and her team has progressed nicely. The first year, she only had 11 players on the roster and played some games with just 10.

“A lot of it has to do with the work ethic of the girls, and how committed they were to field hockey at Husson this year,” Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick said her team had a big adjustment to make each time they took the field.

“We don’t have a [full practice] field,” Fitzpatrick said. “We have a very small practice space and are only allowed to play our games on our real field. They were able to take practicing in those conditions and [apply] it to the full game very well.”

Fitzpatrick certainly had no trouble motivating the Braves on Sunday. First, her team had lost twice to the Beavers and UMF had compiled a perfect 7-0 MAC mark. And second, someone had posted a sign that caught the Husson team’s attention.

“It said, ‘Husson: We’re 7-0. Do you still feel Brave?'” Fitzpatrick said. “The girls got fired up when they saw that.”

Unity teams compete at nationals

The Unity College women’s soccer team returned recently from Texas, where the Rams competed in the inaugural United States Athletic Association fall championships.

Coach Jeremy VonOesen’s team went 0-3, losing 2-0 to Southern Virginia in the first round, falling 10-0 to the eventual champion, the University of Dallas, then bowing 7-0 to Huntingdon College (Ala.).

“The whole event was an awesome experience,” said captain Raquel Ross. “We met other athletes from throughout the United States, and from Kenya and Argentina. This was an experience our whole team will remember for the rest of our lives,” said the Medomak Valley High graduate.

Unity also sent its men’s cross country team and one female runner to the nationals. The Rams took third place in the four-team field.

Senior Ben Naumann of Gouldsboro led the way for Unity with an eighth-place finish. Carleton Lane was 11th, followed by Dave Basiel (14th), Bill See (15th), Ross St. Clair (18th) and Brendan McCarthy (22nd).

Dine College (Ariz.) won the title with 22 points, followed by Southern Virginia (55), Unity (66) and host U-Dallas (79).

Unity’s Mary Anderson finished eighth in the women’s race. Southern Virginia won the team championship.

UMM slates ‘Clipper Madness’

The University of Maine-Machias has scheduled its annual “Clipper Madness” celebration for Monday, Nov. 5.

The event, a rally to introduce the schools’ winter sports teams, will include scrimmages by the men’s and women’s basketball teams. The Junior Clipper youth teams also will exhibit their basketball skills.

Competitions will include a ballhandling display, 3-point shooting, dunking and “hot shot” segment. Doors open at 6 p.m. Admission is free.

Quinn new Colby lacrosse coach

Colby College in Waterville has introduced Rob Quinn as the head coach of the White Mules men’s lacrosse team.

Quinn arrives in Waterville after stints at Hartford, Roanoke College (Va.) and, most recently, New England College in Henniker, N.H., where he was the head coach for the last seven years.

Quinn directed NEC to an 80-25 overall record, leading the team to conference championships in 1998, ’99 and 2000. NEC also advanced to the Division III national tournament last fall.

He has been active in lacrosse, serving on the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association since 1990, including stints as president and vice president. Quinn served on the Division III National Tournament advisory selection committee in 2000-01 and has been on the Division III All-American selection committee.

Quinn earned a B.A. from Westfield State in 1989, where he was named a Division III All-American midfielder in 1989. He continues to compete himself and will play on a master’s level team in the 2002 World Cup of Lacrosse in Perth, Australia.