When the University of Southern Maine field hockey team meets defending NCAA Division III national champion Rowan (N.J.) College in a second-round tournament game Saturday in Middlebury, Vt., local flavor will be abundant in the Huskies’ camp.

Fifteen of the 18 players on the USM roster honed their skills at Maine high schools, including tri-captains from Brunswick, Camden and Jay and standouts from Dirigo, Edward Little and Lewiston.

USM (17-5) carries a 10-game winning streak into its first national tournament appearance since 1992, which was one year after current head coach Bonny Brown-Denico graduated. If the Huskies beat the Profs on Saturday, they would play again Sunday with a berth in the Final Four at stake.

This year’s national semifinals and championship game are Nov. 21-22 at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pa.

“Our goal every year is to capture the conference tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament,” said Brown-Denico. “We came very close to realizing that goal last year, which made us more determined to take that final step this year.”

The Huskies already have valuable experience winning back-to-back playoff games on the road as an underdog. USM entered the Little East Conference tournament as the No. 3 seed. From there, it knocked off three-time defending conference champion Plymouth State, 2-1, to avenge a defeat in last year’s LEC final.

In the championship contest, USM scored on three penalty corners to deny host Keene State, 3-1, avenging a three-goal, regular-season loss in Gorham.

Senior midfielder Darci Holland of Canton, a multi-sport standout at Dirigo High School, made an impact on all three goals against Keene State. She assisted Renee Heath and Kerry Leonard on the first two tallies, then scored the last.

Brunswick’s Heath, a captain and the team’s leading scorer with 27 points, was named Tuesday to the Little East all-conference team for the fourth time.

“Renee is a gifted offensive talent who is equally adept at creating or finishing the play,” said Brown-Denico.

Holland, senior forward Sarah Dolley, senior sweeper Amy Ouellette of Jay and senior goaltender Jessie Superchi each received their second all-conference honors. Superchi, who notched 10 shutouts this year to increase her career total to two dozen, is the Little East Defensive Player of the Year.

“She’s a very humble person who never takes credit for her accomplishments,” Brown-Denico said of Superchi. “Every game she plays, she gets better and better. She makes extraordinary saves look easy and impossible saves possible.”

With seven assists this season, Holland shared the team lead in that category.

While none of Ouellette’s contributions showed up directly on the scoreboard, Brown-Denico credits the Mountain Valley Conference product for much of the Huskies’ success. She anchored a defense that lost three key backs to graduation after the 2002 season. Ouellette made two critical defensive saves in the conference championship game.

“(The seniors) have been a great group of leaders who didn’t expect good things to just happen to them,” said the coach. “They’re all hard-working, talented and motivated players with a special passion for the game.”

Junior forward Ashley Woodcock, also of Jay, has contributed a goal and three assists off the bench. Another local junior, Lewiston’s Libby Asselin, also is one of 11 different Huskies to score a goal this fall.

Freshman Denise Minigell of Auburn was one of six USM players to start every game. Like Ouellette, her efforts aren’t easily quantified. Minigell marked Keene State senior Tanya Strong in Sunday’s LEC championship and kept the league’s leading scorer off the board.

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