When Stephanie Gardiner and Kelly Newton committed to the University of Maine in their final year of high school at Crofton House, the close friends were joining a field hockey program ranked near the very bottom of the pack.
Ranked 60th out of 79 women's varsity teams, the NCAA Div. 1 Black Bears had secured two Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»players who would not only rewrite the record books but also usher in an era of unprecedented conference success.
Now 8-1 half way through the 19-game regular season, the team is co-captained by Gardiner and Newton, both 21, and is poised to crack the NCAA top 10.
"Now we're ranked 11th, that's the difference," head coach Josette Babineau said from Orono, Maine. before a team meeting earlier this week. "Steph and Kelly have had such a part in that. Recruiting is such a big part of that success and that those two players decided to come together was huge for us."
In 2007, her first year as the program's coach, Babineau saw Gardiner and Newton play together for Team B.C. at Canadian nationals in Toronto. A one-time player with the New Brunswick provincial team who had moved on to the provincial program in Saskatchewan where she worked for nine years as the technical director, Babineau knew B.C. harboured a deep talent pool. Although she was coaching at an American university, she could still contribute to her lifelong goal of developing Canadian field hockey players.
The women's field hockey program now boasts 11 Canadian players on a roster of 20. Admission incentives court Canadian students to the University of Maine, which has a student body of roughly 12,000.
In best friends Gardiner and Newton, the Black Bears landed one of the best on- and off-field pairings in the history of their athletic department.
"Every game, they combine," said Babineau. "They find each other all over the field. They're exciting to watch."
Off the field, it's much the same. They've been friends since Grade 7 and remained close as 18-year-old freshmen entering college in a different country on the other side of the continent. "The friendship that they have is quite special," Babineau said. "I don't think I've ever seen two payers come in that close and be able to maintain that in four years. Their relationship has even grown stronger."
Indeed, both young women said their choice of school was closely tied to each other's commitment to the University of Maine. Now, they are the public faces of the university's field hockey program.
Newton, who studies nursing, was named the 2010 America East offensive player of the year, a first in school history for the 40-year-old program. This week the Vancouverite set a new benchmark, entering record-books as the all-time greatest scorer in team history. She has 50 goals and 39 assists for the Black Bears.
In a 5-0 win over Providence earlier this week, Newton had a hand in all goals and scored her fifth career hat trick. On Monday, she was named America East player of the week in what was a record-breaking 10-point week.
"There's never been a player as talented as Kelly with that regard," said Babineau. "She can change the game by herself.
Newton, a natural goal-scorer, stalks the offensive circle while Gardiner, a visionary who distributes the ball from centre midfield, can put the ball right on the toe of her stick.
"I always kind of know where Kelly will be cutting," said Gardiner. "If I have the ball going up the middle, I can just tell when she'll move right or left to get open in the circle. I just know where she'll be all the time because we've played together for so long."
The running joke within the athletic department is that Newton, as the goal-scoring striker, is often in the limelight while the all-seeing play-maker who sets up the goal is relegated to the shadow. So Babineau and Gardiner shared a laugh recently when the player notched her 100th point but "the picture on the website is Kelly [Newton] in the forefront and Stephanie [Gardiner] in the background of her own record." Babineau laughs as she recounts this story and continues, "They joke with each other that Steph has to do all the hard work and Kelly gets to reap the rewards."
It's an inside joke that speaks to how their skill, personal friendship and work ethic have contributed to the program's success and high morale.
"They both know how important their roles are," said the coach.
JOSETTE BABINEAU ON THE MERITS OF TWO STAR VANCOUVERITES
Kelly Newton: "She has a lot of little skills. She's a very technical player and definitely has a lot of skills around the goal. She's a goal scorer. She's definitely by far the strongest attack player that we've had. She holds the school record in total points, goals and assists."
Stephanie Gardiner: "She is a physical player. She has real presence on the field. She's very difficult to stop and very difficult to stay with because she's strong on her own but she also has a very strong vision of the field and can distribute the ball. She's the centre of our field, and we look to her for everything that we do on the field."
Twitter: @MHStewart
