Two years ago, in his first season coaching the University of Maine-Fort Kent’s women’s soccer team, Lucas Levesque and his Bengals compiled a 6-8-1 record. They improved to 12-6 last fall and reached the Sunrise Conference Tournament finals where they lost to Lyndon State.

The progression took a dramatic jump this season as they are currently sporting a 17-0 record and a Sunrise Conference championship.

The Bengals have qualified for the four-team NAIA Region Nine Tournament at Houghton College (N.Y.). They are the third seed and will take on No. 2 Tiffin University (Ohio) on Friday at 2.

It is easy to see why the Bengals cruised to the Sunrise Conference title: 91 goals in 17 games.

You don’t lose many soccer games when you’re averaging 5.4 goals per game.

“We are extremely fast up front,” said Levesque. “We have a lot of team speed and that helps us put the ball in the back of the net.”

When Bill Ashby returned to Maine as the athletic director and men’s soccer coach at UMFK this year, he had a present for Levesque: Jodyann Blake from Jamaica. Ashby had made connections in Jamaica when he was athletic director and women’s soccer coach at Brescia University in Kentucky, according to Levesque.

“Brescia required SAT’s for their incoming freshmen and she didn’t have them. She had good grades. We don’t require SAT’s. We got lucky there. Everything has worked out,” said Levesque.

Blake has scored a team-high 25 goals and dished out seven assists.

“She’s real fast and she’s real smooth with the ball. She has great first-touches. She’s scored a lot of goals by anticipating where the ball was going to be,” said Levesque who added that Blake has scored “five or six goals in the air” despite the fact she’s only “5-4 or 5-5.”

Junior Maria Williams of Bath was the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year thanks to her 13 goals and 11 assists.

“She creates a lot of our offensive opportunities,” said Levesque. “She was our leading scorer her first two years and now she has also turned into a playmaker to go along with that. She’s doubly dangerous.”

The team’s best pure finisher inside the penalty area is Madawaska sophomore Liz Clavette, according to Levesque. She has 15 goals and seven assists.

Freshman winger Sarah Pinette of Fort Kent is a speedster with quick feet who has produced 12 goals and nine assists.

Yet another freshman, midfielder Nicole Nowakowski, has a strong foot and can score from long distance according to Levesque. She has nine goals and four assists.

Senior captain Amber Nadeau of Fort Kent provides a defensive presence in the midfield.

Vastly improved goalkeeper Heather Hartman of Caribou has 11 shutouts and has a formidable group of backs in front of her. Leading the group of backs is junior Neile Lozier of Fort Kent, considered an excellent distributor and communicator by her coach. Freshman stopper Stephanie Schofield of Caribou, sophomore sweeper Megan Watson of Hermon and freshman left back Reegan Brown of Ellsworth have also been key contributors.

UMFK has allowed only nine goals.

Freshman Jeanne Frazer is a speedy and tenacious marking bench; senior midfielder Carolyn Faust can score from long range; freshman Sarah Nadeau from Madawaska supplies depth in the back and Lindsay Cyr, a freshman from Fort Kent, provides depth up front.

Levesque readily admits his conference wasn’t strong and he is upgrading his schedule for next season.

He said he has benefited from attracting quality players from Aroostook County and he hopes to expand his roster to 20-24 kids for next season to create more competition for playing time.

He knows his girls will be severely challenged in the tournament but he said, “This will give us a chance to see what we can do and how far away we are from competing against these schools. We have to see what we need to improve on.”