Quality over quantity

FA field hockey teams goal in undefeated start

By Ernie Clark
Staff Writer

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Foxcroft Academy field hockey team has reached the midpoint of its regular season in a familiar position — near the top of the standings.

But the undefeated Ponies have persevered through some unusual circumstances for a program steeped in tradition and a state champion as recently as 2013.

The team roster includes just 15 players, barely more than enough to field an 11-player starting lineup and nowhere near enough to add a junior varsity team that provides valuable experience for younger players perhaps not yet quite ready for varsity play.

Yet despite having just three seniors and one sophomore and relying on the instant contributions of five freshmen, Foxcroft has been more than competitive.

Through its first seven victories, coach Stephanie Smith’s Ponies have outscored their opponents by a combined 27-4.

“When we met on our first day of preseason we only had 12 or 13 girls and that was not at all what we expected. We knew we were going to have a small team but not to that extent,” said senior co-captain Madison Fadley. “So we didn’t have too high expectations at the beginning but we figured we’d just start and see how it goes.

“The quality, though, is a lot more important than the number of girls because the stickwork is so good and the freshmen have just jumped into their positions. It is hard because we have no JV program this year but they’ve stepped right into varsity and done an incredible job.”

Smith said the leadership of her captains, Fadley and Avery Carroll, has been pivotal to the Ponies’ fast start.

“Fortunately our two senior (captains) are high quality and great kids,” she said. “They’re great leaders, they know our program, they know what the coaches want and so they’re just another set of eyes for leadership for the younger girls.”

The squad also includes senior goalie Madison Chadbourne, juniors Becca Anderson, Jillian Annis, Abbi Bourget, Alli Bourget, Sujeong Kim and Lexi Raymond, sophomore Emily Curtis and freshmen Mackenzie Beaudry, Kylie Dow, Maria Poulin, Hillary Redmond and Cailin Seavey.

“The difference this year is we’ve got kids who desperately need more time playing and they’re not getting it,” said Smith. “It will hurt us next year and the year after because on JV those kids would get quality time building confidence and that’s what the juniors last year had. As freshmen and sophomores they played a lot on JVs and did well and built enough confidence to step into their varsity roles.”

Smith, a former field hockey, basketball and softball standout at Foxcroft Academy who went on to play all three sports at Wheaton College, has been a guiding force as this year’s team awaits the influx of larger eighth- and seventh-grade field hockey classes over the next two years.

She has a 52-5-1 record since replacing the legendary Gene Philpot as the Ponies’ head coach in 2012, including a trip to the Eastern B final in her first season followed by the 2013 Class C state crown.

The Ponies returned to the Eastern C semifinals last fall, but expectations for this season were more modest given the lack of numbers.

“To be perfectly frank it is a surprise,” said Smith of her team’s quick start in 2015. “I wasn’t sure if the juniors were ready to step into that leadership role because quite frankly I thought they were young and a little immature. But they’ve impressed me and have really have worked hard and worked on their skill sets.

“And the unity of our team is really good. Maybe it’s the (low) numbers, but we’re tight and that makes a huge difference.”

A 2-1 victory at rival Dexter on Sept. 4 alleviated some of the uncertainty about the Ponies’ prospects.

While Dexter finished with advantages of 14-3 in shots and 18-2 in corners, the Foxcroft defense was stout and goals by Abbi Bourget and Dow enabled the Ponies to earn the road victory while also learning about areas where improvement was needed.

“It was eye-opening for us,” said Carroll, a senior back. “When you play better teams it exposes your flaws and that was a good game at the beginning of the season to let us know what we needed to work on.”

One area of constant emphasis for the Ponies has been conditioning. With few substitutes to turn to for what to date has been a series of games played amid warm conditions, the team has turned to stretching and agility work, yoga and running in an effort to build up endurance and ward off injuries.

“We knew from preseason that we were going to have to be well conditioned,” said Carroll. “You can’t pace yourself once in you’re in the game because you want to give it all you have and you find that motivation when you need it. I don’t think that’s something we think about when we’re playing.”

“But I’ve got to give it to coach. She’s great at subbing us in and choosing the right players at the right time so they get that five-minute break and it’s enough to keep everyone going for the rest of the game.”

Foxcroft may need to maintain a perfect record in order to finish among the top teams in the final Heal point ratings.

The Ponies, who moved back up to Class B North this season after two years in Class C, play just five of their 14 matches against Class B foes, as John Bapst of Bangor, Old Town and Hermon are the only fellow Penobscot Valley Conference members in the division.

The rest of the teams in Class B North are from the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference, and as of yet there is no crossover competition between the two leagues in field hockey.

That leaves the Ponies to play their remaining nine regular-season contests against PVC Class C foes Dexter, Orono, Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln, Piscataquis of Guilford, Central of Corinth and Stearns/Schenck of the Millinocket area, which puts Foxcroft at a potential Heal point deficit versus KVAC teams that play predominantly Class B schedules.

“Quite honestly I wasn’t looking at the standings at all,” said Smith. “Unfortunately being in the PVC we have to win all of our games to maintain that standing because if we don’t we’re going to drop to five or six because we’re not going to get the points we need to stay up there.

“It is what it is, so it’s got to be us just taking it one game at a time and gearing up for each game. That’s all we can do.”