When the Skowhegan triplets — MaKayla, Mallory and Megan Hancock — were being recruited to play Division I field hockey, they weren’t always recruited by the same schools. Maybe one school wanted Megan because it needed a goalie, or maybe Mallory for offense or MaKayla for defense.

“We talked to coaches and made sure they knew it was a package deal,” MaKayla said.

After deciding to play together at the next level, the “trips” chose Bryant University. In doing so, they went from winning three state titles in four years at Skowhegan to a program that had just completed its second year at the D-I level.

“We all wanted to go to a school that we could make a difference at,” Megan said. “That was one of the biggest (reasons) why we picked Bryant.”

“We really liked how the team got along compared to other schools we went to and that it was a small school,” MaKayla said.

As sophomores this year, the trips were all factors in Bryant posting an 8-10-0 record. Megan started nine games in goal and won five of them. Mallory had four goals and three assists. MaKayla was a regular starter on defense and had a defensive save against Harvard.

“They are three of the hardest workers on our team,” Bryant coach Shaunessy Saucier said. “They come from a winning program and a winning tradition, and they’re committed to getting our program to that level.”

Saucier, who played at the University of Maine, coached the trips at the Futures level about five or six years ago. She had trouble telling them apart at the time but hasn’t had a problem since they came to Bryant.

Part of that is by design. The trips have been thought of as a group since birth, but they take steps to make sure they aren’t always walking around as a unit.

“We all have different jobs. We take different classes,” Mallory said. “There’s definitely times where we go our separate ways.”

“They don’t segregate themselves, ever,” Saucier said. “They’re great teammates.”

Megan said the triplets learned from Melissa Hancock, who finished up her senior season at Sacred Heart this fall, what it was like to be part of a program that doesn’t win virtually every game.

“When you come here and lose three games in a row, it’s more motivation to win the next game, but it’s still very frustrating,” Mallory said.

“College is, I wouldn’t say more competitive, because high school was, too, but it’s a different kind of competitive,” Megan said.

Megan is the only one of the three who isn’t a full-time starter, but that is likely to change next season. She split time in goal this fall with Jennifer Gullotti, who is graduating.

“(Megan’s) really strong on the ball, has great clears, knows the game very well,” Saucier said. “(She’s) also very quick.”

Mallory was tied for second on the Bulldogs with 11 points this fall and is developing into a playmaker.

“She is a great passer and distributor on the forward line,” Saucier said. “She sees a lot of things happen, and she makes a lot of things happen.”

MaKayla, meanwhile, often jump-starts the offense with her free hits from the 16-yard line. Saucier said MaKayla is adept at finding lanes with her drives.

“She’s also a really great individual defender and team defender,” Saucier said. “She’s a great communicator.”

MaKayla also has carried her nickname from high school: “Momma Mak.” Saucier said that’s because if you want to know what’s happening with someone, MaKayla always seems to know.

“On the field, they’ll be calling out, ‘Mom!’ and other teams are like, ‘Uhhh, that’s weird,’ ” MaKayla said.

Whatever other teams think, the trips are just happy to be on the field and contributing. They already are established players in the program and have two more years to make their mark.

“We didn’t want to go to a Big Ten school, where maybe we wouldn’t play a lot,” Mallory said. “We wanted to go somewhere where we could shine.

“All three of us play a lot. We definitely have huge roles on the team. It’s definitely been good so far.”

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
mdifilippo@centralmaine.com

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