Nothing has changed for Lewiston High School graduate Laura Martel. She’s still a threat to score a goal whenever she’s on the soccer field, from just about anywhere in the opposing team’s defensive zone.

Now in her second year at the University of Maine, Martel probably wouldn’t complain if the Black Bears played Holy Cross more often, however.

Martel has saved some of her best collegiate games for the non-conference New England rival. Last Friday, the 5-foot-5 forward tallied twice to trigger the Black Bears’ 5-0 victory over the Crusaders.

As a freshman, Martel also carded one of her two game-winning goals for Maine at Holy Cross’ expense.

The latest outburst makes Martel the Black Bears’ leading scorer through eight games. She is one of only two Maine players to notch multiple goals in a 2-4-2 start.

Scoring opportunities have arrived in bunches for Martel, who also leads the Black Bears with 14 shots on goal.

Five of those were unleashed in a 2-0 loss to Brown, one that ended Maine’s three-game unbeaten streak after an 0-3-1 start.

Martel registered three goals and an assist in her first season on the Orono campus.

Tops in their field

Three local players have anchored the starting lineup for the Maine field hockey team in a 4-5 start to the campaign.

Nicole Emery, a junior forward from Winthrop, scored a goal in the Black Bears’ 3-2 loss to Providence over the weekend. Emery has started all nine games for Maine, collecting three goals (tied for first on the team) and seven points (tied for second).

Her .429 shooting percentage also ranks second-best among the Black Bears.

Fryeburg Academy product Brooke Anderson of Lovell picked up an assist against Providence. Anderson has been a starter in seven of her eight appearances this fall, scoring one goal in the season’s first half.

On the defensive end, senior Kristen Healy of Turner (Leavitt) has started every game for the Black Bears, chalking up one assist. A co-captain, Healy has played in 67 consecutive games.

Miller time at Bates

Tufts University’s trip to Bates College this Saturday will be a homecoming for the only player with Maine ties on the Jumbos’ football roster.

Derek Miller, a 5-foot-11, 230-pound defensive end from Auburn, is a senior at Tufts. He logged five tackles in a reserve role for the Jumbos last season.

As a senior at Edward Little High School, Miller led the Red Eddies to the 2002 Eastern Class A football championship, earned in overtime against rival Lewiston. Miller also played a post-graduate season at Hebron Academy.

Viking moves on to conquer college level

Saint Joseph’s College is off to a flying 8-0 start in women’s soccer with a significant boost from first-year performer Whitney Linindoll of Paris.

Linindoll, out of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School, has three goals and an assist to kick-start her collegiate career.

She scored in the 83rd minute Sunday to provide the Monks extra cushion in a 3-0 victory at Simmons College. Linindoll has also scored against Maine Maritime and the University of Maine at Presque Isle, and she set up the game-tying strike in an eventual 3-1 triumph over the University of Maine at Farmington.

Elsewhere on the Standish campus, sophomore Jillian Kimball of Albany Township (Telstar) picked up an assist in the Monks’s 2-0 field hockey win over Simmons on Saturday.

St. Joe’s junior Gina Gaetani of Auburn (Edward Little) assisted fellow captain Darcey Ward’s goal in a 4-3 overtime win over Husson.

Sophomore Jaimee Brett of Otisfield (Oxford Hills) and freshman Lindsay Dostie of Lewiston are also on the field hockey roster for the Monks, who are 5-3.

Ice time

Wednesday’s 90-degree temperatures don’t tell the story, but the college hockey season is imminent. The University of Maine has been selected fourth in the Hockey East preseason coaches’ poll behind co-favorites Boston College and New Hampshire and No. 3 Boston University.

Maine was 23-15-2 last season en route to its 11th appearance in the Frozen Four.