BY JERRY LIPTAK
With New England in general, and Pembroke Academy’s field hockey team in particular, even the sunniest forecast contains the chance for a passing shower.
Such was the case for the Spartans, who were doused, 4-0, by the Lebanon Red Raiders on a drizzly Friday, Aug. 31.
But Pembroke’s head coach, Rene Paquette-Paige said the lopsided loss was an aberration, and the immediate future looks bright indeed.
“Historically, when we’ve played teams like Lebanon, it’s hard for us,” she said. “The last two, three years, we’ve tried to turn that around. (The girls) have worked hard.”
Her team of 16, with 10 seniors, is good, just not good enough to handle a squad as strong as 2-0 Lebanon, a perennial Class I playoff team with a middle-school feeder system, something Pembroke lacks.
Paquette-Paige said setbacks like this – the Lady Spartans trailed, 3-0, at the break – have become the exception, even following a deceptively lowly two-win season in 2006. Last year, the team was competitive in most of its defeats, Paquette-Paige said. This year should be better.
If that prediction proves true, the team’s captains – Faye Lesniewski, Kaitie Schofield and Danielle Upham – deserve a large portion of the credit.
Lesniewski and Schofield, whom Paquette-Paige good-naturedly called “goofballs,” set the upbeat tone.
The team waits for Upham to return from an arm injury; the cast comes off in two weeks, and she could return in three weeks. In the meantime, you’ll find Upham crowding the sideline, itching to compete.
And though the hosts were thoroughly outplayed by their guests, PA provided some action. Two shots – one by Schofield in the first half and another by senior Hannah Poirier in the second – beat Lebanon’s goalie, though neither counted because no other Pembroke player touched the ball inside the scoring circle.
Still, Pembroke finds itself at 1-1 early in ’07 thanks to a 2-1 season-opening win vs. Stevens on Aug. 28. In that game, senior attacker Jill Boucher and midfielder Schofield tallied. Sophomore goalkeeper Angelica Harwood earned the victory.
Against Lebanon, Harwood arrived minutes before the game commenced. She watched from the sidelines as fellow sophomore Brianna Hughes took over in goal, was bombarded in the first half, then settled in and played well after the break.
Jen Darby and Meaghan Nunnally represent the junior class on the team, while Haley Raymond is PA’s other sophomore.
But the seniors – Holly Brasley, Katie Cotnoir, Heather Hill, Rose Palmer, Erin Parnell, Boucher, Poirier, Lesniewski, Schofield and Upham – are something else, said their coach.
“I’ve heard this from other coaches, other teachers: this is just an amazing group of kids athletically, academically and with their contributions to the community,” said Paquette-Paige. “To have a group of 10 seniors like this … There’s a bond there. And it’s infectious.”