Ashlee Knight was left without a spring sport when Maine Maritime Academy eliminated softball in favor of women’s lacrosse. So Knight simply followed the school’s plan.
Knight, an Anson native and a standout softball player at Carrabec High School, played softball as a freshman at MMA last spring. Now, she’s the starting goalkeeper on the women’s lacrosse team, which is in its first year as a varsity sport.
“We had a club team last year,” Knight said. “Two of my close friends played for the club team, and they really enjoyed it. I went to all of their home games — as much as I could.”
According to Knight, her friends tried to talk her into playing lacrosse. Then another close friend on the team began asking Knight to play pass on weekends. Eventually, Knight showed up at the captains’ practices and asked if she could observe and maybe join in.
“I just really enjoy it,” Knight said. “I love the girls. I love the coaches.”
There are 18 players on the MMA roster this season, but Knight said she still became a goalie out of necessity.
“I thought I’d probably play defense,” Knight said. “Then, as practices went on, we only had one goalie. She didn’t like it at all. All the girls were like, ‘You are a catcher. Do you want to try it?’ I was like, ‘Sure!’ I already play one sport where I have a ball thrown at me. I might as well try another.”
Knight was MMA softball’s starting catcher last season. She started all 24 games, and tied for the team lead in walks. She admits to still missing softball, and said she’ll spend a few hours a week talking softball with her father, Craig, who is still the softball coach at Carrabec.
“It’s definitely heart-breaking not having softball,” Ashlee said. “It’s absolutely heart-breaking. I’ve spent a majority of my life playing softball. Even when I wasn’t playing softball, I was always thinking about it. Playing lacrosse, it definitely helps.”
The Mariners host Thomas tomorrow, and are so far winless through four games. Yet other than the season opener against St. Joseph’s, they’ve had their moments each time out. For example, MMA lost to Maritime of New York 16-6, but it was a 5-4 game late in the first half.
“It’s definitely about building the program,” Knight said. “Every game, we have parts of the game where we start to scare the other team. It’s beautiful. It’s pure lacrosse. We definitely have moments where, if we played like that the whole 60 minutes, we’d beat (most of) the teams that we lost to.”
• • •
Another local player on the lacrosse field this spring is Oakland native and Kents Hill School graduate Sara Grenier, although hers is a different story.
For one thing, Grenier has a lacrosse background, having been a standout offensive player at Kents Hill and a six-year player with the MAINEiax club team. For another, Grenier has escaped the cold of “spring” and is playing at Florida Tech in Melbourne, Fla. Grenier’s biography on the team’s website says she “chose Florida Tech because of the warm weather and the close proximity of the school to the beach.”
Like Maine Maritime, Florida Tech’s women’s lacrosse program is playing at the varsity level for the first time this spring. The Panthers are 4-5, and Grenier has already proved herself as a reliable offensive force.
In nine games (Florida Tech was able to begin its regular season in mid-February), Grenier has scored 34 goals and dished out three assists. She has scored at least two goals in every game, and had a season high of six in a 19-5 win over Coker College of South Carolina. Grenier got a natural hat trick in that game, scoring three consecutive goals in a span of 3 minutes, 34 seconds.
• • •
Friday was another example of just how good Matt McClintock is.
McClintock, an Athens native and Madison Area Memorial High School graduate, began his junior outdoor track season for Purdue University on Friday. McClintock won the 5,000-meter run at Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational, which was held this weekend in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
McClintock’s winning time was 14 minutes, 47.84 seconds. That was 51 seconds slower than McClintock’s time at last year’s Iowa State Classic, when he set a Purdue record in the 5K — but still good enough to win.
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
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