BIDDEFORD — There are certain trade offs in life one will make for the greater good.
Short-term pain for long-term gain, comes to mind.
That’s a bargain that Sue Frost, UNE’s women’s lacrosse coach is willing to make.
Now in her third year at the Nor’easters’ helm, Frost finds herself having to reload after losing a whole host of seniors from last year’s 12-5 club.
And like it or not, that reloading involves heavy reliance on raw rookies, which make up a large chunk of UNE’s squad.
“We’re extremely young,” said Frost. “More than half of our team are first years, so we’re just new. We’re just getting it together.”
Getting it together involves taking some lumps.
And the Nor’easters have absorbed more than their share of those during the early weeks of the season.
Thus far, UNE has just one win in the first five starts of the season.
“It’s just a work in progress,” said Frost. “We have a ton of talent. More talent than I think we’ve ever had. I think when we put it together, we’ll be on a roll.”
Within that gifted group of newbies is the team’s second and fourth leading scorers ”“ Hannah Tavella and Sadie MacLean ”“ as well as its starting goaltender, Samantha St. Pierre.
Another underclassman, sophomore Cara Cole, it the team’s third leading point getter.
Each of them were standouts in high school, but are finding that stepping up to college varsity status poses unique challenges.
“They were the tops in their (high school) programs,” said Frost, “and now it’s just learning how to play college ball with other people. When you play with people for years, it’s easy to have that flow. When more than half of your team is new to the bunch, you’ve got to get that flow going. And we’re starting to get there.”
Fortunately for Frost, there is still some seasoned talent around to help the club try to make a significant dent in the TCCC come tournament time.
Senior sniper Danielle Cate leads the team in scoring while junior co-captain Jesse Dvorak is capable of chipping in to the offensive effort.
“We (just) have to gain some experience and gain time playing with each other,” Frost said.
The Nor’easters were picked to finish third in a poll of the league’s head coaches.
Frost feels that despite the club’s early season setbacks, UNE promises to pick up speed as it heads toward the playoffs.
Especially as it’s playing its first season on the school’s new blue turf field.
“I still think we’ll be in the top three (of the TCCC),” she said. “We’re just having a slow go.”
— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com or follow on Twitter @DanHickling.
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