When the field hockey state championship games last Saturday were postponed at Husson College in Bangor because of poor weather, some coaches figured those games would be moved to Monday or Tuesday.
But the Maine Principals’ Association pushed the games to this coming Saturday at Deering High School in Portland, citing poor weather as well as finding a suitable venue on such short notice as Husson was unavailable to host this weekend.
The layoff disrupted practice plans, forcing schools to get creative with how to manage this week.
“It’s just crazy,” said Gardiner coach Sharon Gallant whose Tigers are playing York for the Class B title. “I thought Wednesday at the latest. It kind of interrupts your groove. Right now we’re playing really well.”
Added Skowhegan coach Paula Doughty, whose Indians will play Biddeford for the Class A crown: “We played on Monday. I don’t understand it. Another time we played on Tuesday. It’s hard to stay sharp if you’ve waited that long.”
Michael Burnham, an MPA director, said logistics and a rough stretch of weather contributed to the schedule change.
“When we discovered that Husson was not available, we had to find a whole other site,” he said. “And that was difficult because a lot of fields out there with turf were still playing games. To find a site to play state championship game became a challenge. Ultimately, we were able to communicate with the city of Portland and Deering was available.”
“It was unexpected,” said Winthrop coach Jess Merrill, whose Ramblers will play Spruce Mountain in the Class C state game. “It is what it is so we have to adjust.”
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Gallant plans to mix up her practices this week and keep the mood light. On Monday the team practiced inside and after every drill they donned Tu-tus (from an earlier event) and danced to music between drills. Tuesday one of the team’s players is bringing her pygmy goats to practice on the field with the team performing some “goat yoga.”
“We’re doing all the same stuff but putting a different spin on it,” Gallant said.
The final practice is called focus Friday. “No gimmicks,” she said.
Doughty said several of her players had to cancel previous commitments but is resigned to the situation at hand. “We said what can we do to make this better? Waiting 10 days to play how do you get the kids fired up?”
One way is by playing, and all three times will meet at Thomas College for a round-robin scrimmage Wednesday afternoon, which will include starters and reserves.
Before and after the scrimmage Merrill will have her team doing some skill-specific work, but also plans to keep the mood light “to get our mind off field hockey.”
That includes doing something with the team for Halloween as well as attending some team dinners.
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All three central Maine teams have some state championship history. Skowhegan has played in 24 state games, winning 18 titles. It’s dominated the competition of late, winning 15 of the last 17 games. They’ve never met Biddeford in the postseason.
Gardiner has a recent history with York, beating the Wildcats in 2009 and losing to it in 2014, in Gallant’s first year as head coach.
“We had a goal taken away,” Gallant recalled.
York has won four state titles in 13 appearances, including three straight before losing to Maine Central Institute last year. Gardiner also won a state Class A title in 1987.
Winthrop is making its second straight Class C title appearance. Last year the Ramblers fell to unbeaten St. Dominic, 3-2, in double overtime. This will be their seventh state title game. They won back-to-back championships in 1988 and 89.
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