Messalonskee and Lawrence know they’re playing each other, but they won’t play until Tuesday. A host of other local field hockey teams were supposed to play Wednesday, but will have to wait until Saturday.
As they prepare for their biggest game of the year to this point, everyone is — pardon the pun — in the same boat. If teams want to practice, it needs to be inside, and they’re doing the best they can with that.
“We were inside (Tuesday),” Cony coach Holly Daigle said. “That’s not the ideal practice scenario, but any other team that’s in playoffs, that’s where they are. We went in the gym, worked hard in there.”
Mount View coach Gloria Hewett said the Mustangs will practice Thursday at The Pitch indoor center in Warren — nearly 40 miles from the school — but are otherwise practicing in the gym this week.
“We wrap our sticks with socks, so we don’t scratch the floor,” Hewett said.
Skowhegan was scheduled to play Wednesday but moved its game with Bangor to Tuesday to beat the storm. Other schools explored the idea of doing the same thing, and the Maine Principals’ Association realized there might not be enough officials for Tuesday. Now Skowhegan is playing Saturday at Colby College, although Indians coach Paula Doughty is pleased with the break.
“We took today off,” Doughty said Wednesday. “We got caught up on homework and sleep, which wasn’t such a bad thing. We’ve basically gone five or six days a week since the end of August. I think having a couple days off is a good thing. If they don’t know how to play right now, they’re not going to pick it up anyway.”
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Six quarterfinal games involving local teams still need to be played. The MPA is giving teams until Saturday to play the games. With rain expected through sometime on Friday, most schools have already scheduled the games for Saturday.
Here are the times and dates for the games currently scheduled:
• Bangor at Skowhegan, Eastern A, 4 p.m., Saturday, at Colby College
• Erskine at Gardiner, Eastern B, 3:30 p.m., Saturday, at Kents Hill
• Mattanawcook at Winslow, Eastern C, noon, Saturday
• Maine Central Institute at Mount View, Eastern C, 10 a.m., Saturday
• Mountain Valley at Oak Hill, Western C, 3:30 p.m., Friday
The Eastern A quarterfinal between Cony and Mt. Blue also still needs to be played after being rained out on Wednesday. The officials and teams were both at the field and the players warmed up in the rain. Then the game was postponed at about 3 p.m. — the time it was supposed to start. Cony coach Daigle said the schools will watch the weather and possibly play Friday if that day is a viable option. Otherwise, the game will be played Saturday at a time to be determined.
Oak Hill coach Betsy Gilbert said it’s unlikely Oak Hill’s field at the Carrie Ricker School will be ready by Friday.
“Our AD is working on backup plans for Saturday,” Gilbert said. “We have one side of our field that is low, where the runoff goes to.”
Gilbert said the backup plans could include Lewiston High School and a couple of turf fields.
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On Tuesday, the Maine Field Hockey Association announced the finalists for the Miss Maine Field Hockey Award, given annually to the top senior player in the state. Three of the finalists were central Maine players: Skowhegan’s Rylie Blanchet, Cony’s Arika Brochu, and Mount View’s Kersey Boulay.
Blanchet was an all-state selection last season, and scored 31 goals and dished out 36 assists over her first three seasons while playing forward. This year, she moved to center midfielder.
“This year has been a challenge for Rylie, and I’m really proud of her,” Doughty said. “Rylie was a phenomenal forward, and she made a self-sacrifice for the team. She’s been playing forward since she was a little girl. It hasn’t been an easy transition.”
Brochu is a two-year captain for the Rams, and has verbally committed to play softball at St. Anselm College.
“She’s just the total package,” Daigle said. “She is a competitor. She wants to win. Her work ethic shows that she wants to win games. But first and foremost for her is sportsmanship. She’s an excellent leader. She’s very humble. Just an all-around outstanding athlete — and young woman, really. She has been a phenomenal leader for our team this season.”
Boulay plays center midfielder for the Mustangs, and Hewett said the amount of offseason field hockey she has played is evident when you watch her on the field.
“She has a lot of stick skills that she learned from playing for futures, Majestix, and indoor national team,” Hewett said. “She just has a lot of skills you don’t get unless you’ve played a lot of field hockey. She’s also a really smart player. She sees opportunities that are created on the field, and is able to use them to the team’s advantage.”
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
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