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11/15/2009
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FAIRPOINT PLAN TARGETS DEBT
Wind project off Mass. meets strong resistance
Three bills seek tougher rules for petitioners
New rules for special education debated
Happy apples
AUGUSTA: Cuts to French curriculum run into opposition
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL: Hall-Dale drops MVC title game to Mountain Valley
HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY NOTEBOOK: Different stakes in Gardiner-Winslow rivalry
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
'At the time ... he was psychotic'
Man answers door, is attacked with Mace and then robbed
FairPoint reorganization plan aims to slash company's debt
Concerns over special-education changes aired
FAIRFIELD: Clinton man, 21, arrested on rape, assault charges
Stun gun, arrest of suspect end high-speed, 2-town chase
HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY NOTEBOOK: Gardiner, Winslow take to ice again
GIRLS BASKETBALL: Skowhegan wins KVAC A title game
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
BY BILL STEWART
Staff Writer
Brianna Tupper didn't expect to start for the University of New England field hockey team. She didn't expect to finish second in the team in scoring, and she certainly didn't expect to find herself on a first team all-conference list.
"I guess the hard work paid off," Tupper said.
Did it ever.
UNE sophomore Tupper, a former Winthrop High School standout, did all three this fall after coming off the bench her freshmen season.
Tupper scored 34 points for the Nor'easters (14-3), who will play Endicott College today at noon in an ECAC Division III New England semifinal game.
"She's come a long way," UNE coach Joan Howard said. "She's just really matured. For her to make first team all-conference is just a great, great honor for her. She really blossomed this year."
Tupper and Howard acknowledged the coming out party was somewhat unexpected this fall.
"I didn't expect it," Tupper said. "I didn't expect to start at all. But I played hard and I practiced hard in the summer, too. It took a lot of hard work and dedication."
Added Howard, who is in her third season as UNE coach: "I didn't think she'd blossom this quickly. It was a pleasant surprise. We have an opportunity to bring home some hardware, and Bri was a big reason. This was just a big step for her."
Tupper, who plays wing, is also coping with a left knee injury, which made her accomplishments on the field all the more impressive. She is suffering from an iliotibial band syndrome, which is a strained muscle from the hip to the knee. Tupper says she can feel the pain in her knee when she walks, practices and competes.
"It's not going to go away until I stop playing," Tupper said. "It's a pain I can deal with, though."
Tupper added that before every practice or game she is rehabbing her knee to "stretch it out."
If the injury had any effect on her play, it certainly didn't show in the statistics. She had 13 goals and 8 assists to finish behind only senior Taryn Flagg (19, 10) on the team.
"You have to play aggressive," Tupper said, "and you have to see the whole field. I learned how to work my hardest."
She also learned the style of the college game while sitting on the bench for most of last season.
"I learned a lot about the game, for sure," said Tupper, an applied exercise science major. "I learned what you have to look for."
And Tupper applied it on the field for UNE this season.
"She has the basic skills of being a wing," Howard said. "But she really has an awareness of the entire field and I saw that when she as at Winthrop. She has the skills and she has the speed."
Bill Stewart -- 623-3811, ext. 515
bstewart@centralmaine.com
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