The University of Maine field hockey team is looking to bounce back from an unusually losing season last fall.
The Black Bears finished below .500 in the America East division for the first time since 2012, falling to 3-5.
The sixth-seeded Black Bears beat third-seeded New Hampshire, 3-2 in overtime, in the league quarterfinals, but lost 8-1 to second-seeded Albany in the semifinals.
Head coach Josette Babineaux and assistants Michelle Simpson and Leslie Smith have brought in eight new recruits, including four transfer students, in an effort to return to the top of the America East.
The University of Maine has gone 26-3 in conference play over the past four seasons and earned its first tournament victory and NCAA berth in 2021.
The transfer students are Alexandra Thacker and Victoria Tinguitella from Kent State University in Ohio, Micalea Grajales from Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, and Maeve Fogarty from the University of Rochester in New York.
The incoming freshman athletes are from Europe: Flore Dijkhuizen of the Netherlands, Rosalie Mrazova of the Czech Republic, Connie Davis of Wales and Emily Chisholm of Canada.
Fogarty, Chisholm and Dijkhausen are the forwards, Grajales is a midfielder, Davies, Zucker and Tingitella are at the back and Mrazova is the goalkeeper.
Tingitera can also play in midfield.
Babineaux said the group is extremely talented and experienced.
“We've got a good mix of transfers and newcomers,” said Babineaux, who is in his 18th season as the Black Bears' coach. “We've addressed the needs of the team and we should be competitive without having to do a total rebuild.”
“We're going to have versatility and depth. We're going to be able to use different formations and lineups,” she said.
The England soccer player appeared in 19 games at Kent State last fall and was tied for fourth on the scoring list with three goals, three assists and nine total points. In 2022, he had two goals in 16 games and was third in the Mid-American Conference with four defensive saves. In 2021, he started all 18 games.
She played in one game as a freshman.
The Argentina native recorded three assists in 19 games this season after recording four assists in 18 games last season at Kent State. He also appeared in 18 games as a sophomore after recording one goal in 14 appearances as a freshman.
Grajales, a native of Uruguay, has five goals and seven assists in 51 career games at Quinnipiac University. She had two goals in 17 games last fall and two goals and five assists in 19 games in 2022.
A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Fogarty was named a First Team All-American at Division III Rochester and was also named Liberty League Player of the Year and Region III Player of the Year.
She finished as the Yellow Jackets' scoring leader with 13 goals and seven assists for a total of 33 points in 21 games, and in 2022 she had eight goals and 10 assists in 23 games.
Babineau said he expects his transfer to make an immediate impact, whether as a starter or off the bench.
“It will help our depth as well. With the speed at which we play, we need to use a lot of guys,” Babineaux said, noting that having players with extensive collegiate field hockey experience, including three at the Division I level, will also be beneficial.
Four other rookies could also make an impact.
Chisholm, a native of Burlington, Ontario, played for Canada at the 2023 Junior World Cup in Chile. She was a three-time player of the year at Assumption Catholic Secondary School and is also its all-time leading scorer.
Davies has played for the Welsh national team at various age levels and her club team, Swansea Hockey Club, won the Under-18 National Cup in 2024.
Dijkhuizen plays for a Dutch club team that competes at the second highest level of field hockey in the Netherlands and played on a team that came second in the national 3-on-3 tournament.
Mrazova, a graduate of J.E. Purkinje University in the Czech Republic, will have two years of eligibility. She will serve as the backup for Jade Tenby, who played 13 games as a freshman last fall and shared goalkeeping duties with departed fifth-year senior Mallory Dreyer.
Dreyer served as the backup to former America East Goaltender of the Year Mia Boley for several years.
Mlazová has played for the Czech Republic national teams at various age levels and has competed in four EuroHockey outdoor championships and three EuroHockey indoor championships.
Babineau said Mrazova has a different playing style to Tenby and that could work to her advantage.
The inexperienced Dreier and Tenby had a combined .650 save percentage last year, and only five of Division I's 77 teams posted a worse save percentage.
Maine is losing All-AE second team selection and team leading scorer Mallory McKessey (12 goals, eight assists) to Central Michigan University and second-leading point producer Tereza Holubkova (five goals, seven assists) to graduation.
Maine averaged 1.8 goals per game last season, good for 51st in the country.
They also lost two of their starting three backs in Hannah Abbott and Christiana Walker, but will have 2022 second-team All-American Poppy Lambert returning for her fifth consecutive season.
The University of Maine will play an exhibition match against Brown University on Aug. 25 in Durham, New Hampshire, before opening the season against host Northwestern University on Aug. 30 in Evanston, Illinois.
Northwestern won the NCAA Division I title in 2021 and was runner-up to the University of North Carolina each of the past two seasons.
Northwestern defeated the University of Maine, 3-0, in Orono last fall.
