ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine is well known for its hockey and football teams, but the best team in Orono right now plays field hockey.
UMaine's field hockey team is ranked 23rd in the country.
"We've just always had that mentality of, 'We have to play hard. We're going to play til the end. We're going to be a difficult team to beat,'" Head Coach Josette Babineau said.
With three games left in the regular season, the team is preparing for another postseason run after winning its first America East Conference title last year and competing in the NCAA tournament.
The team has its sights on the next goal: back-to-back conference championships. However, forward Chloe Watson said it's important to keep their focus on the final three games of the regular season.
"We want to continue to make history, but we're just taking things step by step and focusing on one thing at a time," Watson said.
The team's season began with a couple of losses, but since then, it set the program's second-longest win streak at 10 games, one shy of tying the program record. Now it has an 11-4 record.
"I think it showed that we're ready to come back from anything," goalie Mia Borley said. "It's just propelled us forward even more, to just want to be better and just prove to everyone we're here, and we want to win."
A win Friday night against Vermont would ensure that the Black Bears host the America East Conference tournament in about two weeks.
"Our end goal is obviously to win America East again, but it's just important we take one game at a time," Sydney Meader said.
The America East Conference tournament is Nov. 3-6.