BY SAPNA PATHAK

Renee Paquette does not demand perfection. Her Pembroke Academy players do.

But with the final quarter of the regular season remaining and a playoff spot on the line, Paquette is teaching the field hockey team to play through some unexpected ups and downs.

“We lost that game to Portsmouth, and it just kind of spiraled into a bunch of losses we couldn’t come back from,” said Paquette. “The girls play really well together. They’re very close, and as much as you try to prepare for times when things won’t be perfect, they’re having a hard time adjusting.”

After opening the season with wins over Stevens and John Stark, the Spartans have lost seven games, interrupted only by a 3-2 win over visiting Bow on Sept. 18.

Against Class I club Portsmouth on Sept. 21, senior captain Katie Scofield was sidelined 10 minutes into the match with an injury.

Long before losing Scofield, right wing and senior captain Danielle Upham suffered a broken wrist during the preseason.

Despite returning a core of 10 players, now seniors, the team struggled with inexperience at times. Senior Rose Palmer, who stepped in for Upham, joined a group of upperclassman seeing their first varsity action.

“We graduated six seniors but still had a huge chunk coming back,” said Paquette. “The problem was a lot of them hadn’t been starters or were on the junior varsity team last year, so they were really getting used to playing on a varsity level each day.”

On Friday, Sept. 28, the Spartans lost to visiting Plymouth Regional, 2-0. Sophomore keeper Angelina Harwood, midfielder Jill Boucher and center Faye Lesniewski, a senior captain, each played well in the losing effort.

“After three straight losses, we sat down and asked ourselves if we wanted to just call it a year or come back and fight for the playoffs,” said Paquette. “That was really a low point for the team, but then we came out and really put up a fight against (now 7-2) Plymouth. I’m sure they thought they would just come here and walk over us, but hopefully we’re in the mindset … to hit the postseason.”