Nickyia Lovely was well aware she was within striking distance of the school scoring record when she began her field hockey season this fall.

“I needed 16 goals to tie it and 17 to break it,” she said. “Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to be able to do it.”

The quest appeared more distant when Lovely had just a couple of goals well into the season.

Gardiner coach Sharon Gallant took her aside and explained to her that she was being double- and sometimes even triple-teamed by her opponents.

“After that she was fine,” Gallant said. “She just needed the game to come to her,”

Lovely broke the record with a pair of goals in Gardiner’s first playoff game against Camden Hills with former record-holder Hailey Chadbourne on hand to present her a ceremonial crown. For her efforts, Lovely has been selected Kennebec Journal Field Hockey Player of the Year. Also considered was Cony’s Delaney Keithley.

Lovely finished her career with 63 goals, but Gallant said her ability extends beyond putting the ball into the cage.

“She is a great scorer but also a kid who is really about team.” Gallant said. “She will pass to a teammate who has a better shot.”

Lovely said she wanted to play football as a young kid but was persuaded by her parents to try field hockey. She has no regrets but sometimes brings a football player’s mentality to the game with her aggressive approach.

“I just love the exhilaration and how exciting it is to be on the field,” she said.

Gallant said Lovely has a nose for the ball and is generally at her best when playing up front in the formation. But she’s occasionally brought her back to midfield, a position she’s played in the past, with good results. In fact, Gallant said Lovely’s best game of the season was at perennially strong Belfast where she played primarily at midfield and led the Tigers to an important victory.

“She just ruled the game,” Gallant said.

Lovely drew upon several people in the offseason to improve her game. Current Gardiner teacher Kristy McNaughton, formerly Kristy Ferran of Winslow and the state’s first Miss Maine Field Hockey recipient, helped her with conditioning and shooting drills. She also sought out recent Gardiner graduate Abby Dyer, now playing at Husson University, to help her with her shot and her aerial passes.

She made great strides in both areas, developing one of the hardest shots in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference.

“I had a hard shot last year but it wasn’t as hard as I wanted it,” Lovely said. “It wasn’t as hard as Abby Dyer’s was.”

At Dyer’s invitation, Lovely made it a point to go to Waterville each week during the summer to play with area college players which not only helped her skill development but also her confidence.

After going to the Class B state final, the top-seeded Tigers lost in the B North championship game this year to Winslow. Lovely prefers to dwell on the positive points of the season, though, adding “we beat some of the biggest teams in the conference.”

Lovely plans to continue her education and hopes to play next fall at the University of Maine at Farmington.

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