One day.
That’s how long Kayla Nowell got between the end of her record-setting St. Joseph’s College field hockey season and the start of basketball season.
But the former Lake Region High School standout, now a sophomore at St. Joe’s, isn’t complaining. After she and her Lady Monks field hockey teammates lost in the semifinals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship Tournament on Nov. 15, Nowell took the next day, Sunday, off and joined up with the basketball team on Monday.
“I absolutely love basketball,” Nowell said. “It’s another family to join and have fun. I’ll admit field hockey probably is my favorite. My sister and my mom played field hockey, so it kind of comes to me through them.”
While Nowell enjoys both sports, her roles are markedly different in the two. On the hardwood, she comes off the bench, averaging 3.2 points and four rebounds a game through eight games this season (the Lady Monks are off to a good start at 6-2).
On the field hockey field, she’s become a star. After a solid freshman season for St. Joe’s, Nowell came into her own this past fall, as she scored 21 goals and registered 57 points – both single-season school records. She led the North Atlantic Conference in points and was named a first team all-conference selection. She was also named to the Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches Association New England West All-Region Team after a season in which the Lady Monks finished 15-6, the best record in the program’s history.
St. Joe’s field hockey coach Rupert Lewis said he saw a lot of potential in Nowell during her freshman season, when she had eight goals and two assists. That potential was realized in her second season when she became better acclimated to the college game.
“She embraced a lot of what I told her and work hard over the summer,” Lewis said. “She came into this season leaps and bounds above everybody, with great conditioning.”
Lewis doesn’t guarantee anybody a starting spot. He makes all his players earn their playing time. Still, he said Nowell “has a very valuable spot on the team.” He believes she can improve even further.
“If she stays positive and focused, she’ll probably end up being an All-American,” he said.
And to think Nowell never even saw it coming. She said her success this season surprised her.
“I was shocked,” she said. “It just kind of came to me this year. My coach told me I needed to step up and be a leader. Everyone needs to be a leader, so I just went with the flow and tried to step it up on the field.”
She broke the single-season scoring record before she ever knew she was approaching it.
“I didn’t even know I had broken any records,” Nowell said. “It wasn’t brought to my attention until people at school started congratulating me. I had no idea. I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ I’ve never really looked at records. I’m not really one to check my stats like that. I was pretty excited, though.”
The traits Lewis said Nowell possesses – drive, unselfishness, leadership, a good work ethic, an “eye and nose for the goal” – are those Lake Region field hockey coach Dagny Leland also witnessed during Nowell’s high school career. Nowell’s 51 career goals are a school record and the 21-goal total she tallied as a senior is the second best single-season total in the school’s 39-year history.
“She was one of those players that you just knew was ready for college,” Leland said. “She loved the game and wanted everyone to do the best they could. She was a go-getter. She worked hard in practice and you could tell when she played that this was her sport. She was very confident in wanting to win, encouraging the other girls to go above and beyond and give everything they had.”
Leland has caught several of Nowell’s games over the past couple seasons. She said that Nowell’s decision to attend college close to home has allowed her to develop an impressive fan following. Leland believes all the pieces are in place for two more great years for Nowell.
“When she’s comfortable with her teammates and coaches, there are no limits for her,” Leland said. “She just goes for it.”
St. Joe’s field hockey season came to an end with a 1-0 loss to Endicott College, a game short of the ECAC championship, which Endicott went on to win.
“We were pretty happy where we ended up,” Nowell said. “Obviously, everybody wants to be No. 1, but the game we played against Endicott was probably the best game that we ever played. Nobody walked off crying. We walked off thinking, ‘Wow, we just played awesome.’ No one was ashamed because we knew that’s how hard we can play.”
Another highlight of the season came in the NAC semifinals when St. Joe’s defeated the University of Maine at Farmington 1-0. “Last year, they referred to us as a practice team, so beating them felt pretty good,” Nowell said.
Nowell is an elementary education major and said she’d like to teach third or fourth grade once she graduates. Coaching could very well also be in the cards. “I would love to coach,” she said. “I’ve always talked about it. It would keep more involved in sports.”
During her high school basketball career, Nowell was part of two Western Maine Class B championship teams at Lake Region. The team won a third in a row last season, but, for the third straight year, fell short in the state title game. Nowell thinks this could be the year the Lakers capture that elusive gold ball.
“That was so hard to lose all those, but this could be the year,” said Nowell, who still follows the team closely. “Abby Hancock and her group are a very talented group, so I think this could be the year they finish it.”
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