Skowhegan High School field hockey head coach Paula Doughty keeps a close eye on her team during an Aug. 25 practice in Skowhegan. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

Nearly two years ago, Paula Doughty and the Skowhegan field hockey team were back on top of the sport.

The River Hawks had just blanked Biddeford 3-0 to win their 16th Class A title in 19 years (and 19th state title in program history).

There would be no shot at a repeat, however, as the coronavirus pandemic altered the 2020 campaign. There were no playoffs, or state championships.

Fast forward to 2021, and Doughty — like other coaches across the state — are in somewhat unfamiliar territory at the dawn of a new season.

“We’re a super-young team, we don’t have a lot of seniors on this team,” Doughty said. “Over the summer, we had to really start with fundamentals, work on fundamentals. We really haven’t gotten into a lot of higher level skills yet.

“Our team is weird, because all our freshmen didn’t have any season last year. All our sophomores only had that season last year, which was a joke. … Really, two-thirds of our team has never played this before. I’m happy with my kids. They’re stepping right up. The older kids are about 15-16 (years old). I don’t have the 17-18s that I normally do.”

Despite the roster turnover, the River Hawks will enter the season as the prohibitive favorite in Class A North. Perennial playoff contenders Mt. Blue — which was a No. 2 seed in the 2019 playoffs — and Messalonskee should be in the mix as well.

In Class B, Winslow will look to defend its 2019 state title.

“They’re coming along,” Winslow coach Mary-Beth Bourgoin said. “We’ve got some work to do, we’ve got some spots to fill. They’re young, and we’re doing what we can to get them ready.

“(Last year) helped a little,” Bourgoin said. “I only had two seniors last year, so at least the girls that are back have more varsity experience. They’re still young and a little rusty, but it’s one practice at a time, one game at a time.”

Coaches say Class B North will again be highly competitive. The last three Class B champions (Maine Central Institute in 2017, Gardiner in 2018 and Winslow in 2019) have come from the conference. Belfast, which fell to Winslow in the 2019 B North final, is always a contender as well. And Cony, a No. 3 seed in A North two seasons ago, will make the move to B North.

Winthrop field hockey coach Sharon Coulton, middle, instructs players during an Aug. 17 practice in Winthrop. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

“Part of the reason that we’re all right is because our conference is so strong,” said Gardiner coach Sharon Gallant, who has a lot of youth and athleticism on her roster this season. “You’re playing somebody good every time. It’s not like we’re going out there and are like, ‘Oh, today we’ve got Winslow, that will be easy.’  Every single game you’re playing in, you’re playing somebody that’s good. That just helps, overall, for our league to continue to get stronger and stronger.”

“(Last year) we didn’t see Gardiner, we didn’t see Belfast,” added Lawrence coach Shawna Robinson, who returns an athletic, junior-heavy team. “We played Winslow, we played Skowhegan, we played Messalonskee, we played MCI, and MCI is in (Class) C now, we do play them still. It’s kind of the unexpected. We’ve played Nokomis; they’re going to be tough, they always are. Winslow is going to be Winslow. Gardiner is going to be Gardiner. No matter what they lose, they always rebuild.”

Nokomis, with new coach Shaunessy Saucier (a former two-time captain for the University of Maine field hockey team), could also contend in B North. Saucier was the head coach of Division I Bryant University in Rhode Island from 2009-2017, leading the Bulldogs to an 11-7 record and a trip to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) semifinals during the 2013 season.

Skowhegan, wearing blue, competes against Lawrence, wearing white, during a field hockey play day event on July 31 in Winslow. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

“We played a lot this summer, we were in two leagues, one at Winslow, one at Hampden,” said Saucier, who will have a mix of veteran talent and youth on her roster. “So, it’s great that they got to play a lot of 11 vs. 11 and 7 vs. 7 at times. They’ve been working really hard throughout the summer to get ready for this. … We had a couple practices (last week) and we’ve seen some really great improvement already. I’m pretty pumped.”

In Class C South, a familiar face will take over the program at Winthrop, which has appeared in the last two Class C state championship games (winning in 2018). Sharon Coulton, who had been serving as an assistant under Jess Merrill, will be the new head coach. Coulton is no stranger to leading the program to the top. The Ramblers won their first two state titles, in 1988 and 1989, with Coulton at the helm.

“I’m thrilled to be able to have the possibility of a normal season, this is a fantastic group of girls to work with,” Coulton said. “Small, but mighty, we call ourselves. We expect to have a roster of about 15, which is a small number, but some strong seniors and a really solid crew of juniors who are playing as if they didn’t miss out on a season last year.”

The Ramblers should be pushed in C South by Oak Hill, which reached the semifinals two years ago. MCI, which was a No. 4 seed in the B North playoffs two years ago, will make the move to Class C North this season.

Dave Dyer — 621-5640

ddyer@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Dave_Dyer