FARMINGTON — The way a soccer player sees the field is crucial to individual effectiveness and a team’s success. Field vision may be the most important —yet toughest to develop — skill for playing with and without the ball.

Mt. Blue coach Fred Conlogue says senior striker Eryn Doiron’s field awareness has to be seen to be believed.

“Her vision is incredible. She sees things most people don’t see and makes passes most people aren’t capable of making,” Conlogue said.

Doiron now has some long-standing school records in her sights. With five goals already this year, she has 36 for her career, eight away from tying the record Ashley Spear established for the Cougars’ fledgling soccer program in the late 1980s.

Doiron, whose career 47 assists and 83 points also rank among the school’s all-time leaders, knows she’ll leave a mark on Mt. Blue soccer after this season. She’s more interested in it being a mark that will have her team ranked at the top.

“If I get (the record), that’s great,” Doiron said. “But I’m just hoping to carry us as far as we can go. If that means me scoring goals, me assisting, me playing goal if I have to, I’ll do it.”

Doiron, an outstanding athlete who also excels in tennis at Mt. Blue, leaves the “how” in Conlogue’s hands.

“Fred’s going to do everything he can and Fred’s amazing, so…” she said with a grin. “He’s going to give us all of the tools to get us there. We’ve just got to put it together.”

Doiron started playing soccer at 3 years old with her older brother Ike, a two-time Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference all-star at Mt. Blue who’s now a sophomore starter at Maine Maritime Academy.

Ike led Class A in assists when he played for the Cougars, and his little sister didn’t fall far from the tree with her passing skills.

“I definitely had to work at it. I got a lot of help from my brother,” Eryn said. “My teammates make me look pretty good, too. They make nice runs and I just put it there.”

Opponents have put those passing skills to the test this year, making sure at least one defender is following her all over the field. Fellow senior Kaitlin Kane and sophomore Jocelyn Daggett have helped take some of the scoring load, and Doiron doesn’t hesitate to look for them and other open teammates when the defense dictates.

“If I do have a shadow, that just leaves more space for my team, which is great. So I’ll just go hide in the corner,” she said.

Doiron will still take her chances, though, even if they’re longshots. She took the majority of the Cougars’ 15 shots in a 2-0 win over Oxford Hills on Tuesday, despite having a Viking breathing down her neck most of the time. She scored both goals from more than 20 yards out.

“Passing and shooting, she can put it pretty much anywhere she wants to put it,” Conlogue said.

Doiron works on those skills playing for Central Maine United in addition to playing for the Cougars. She plans to continue to hone them in hopes of playing in college, although she hasn’t settled on where just yet.

In the meantime, she will focus on her long-term vision for the Mt. Blue program.

“I’m hoping I can teach a little bit, help the younger kids to grow up to be better than me,” she said.

Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638

rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com

Twitter:@RAWmaterial33