Player of the Week

Whitney Mills, senior center forward, Telstar

Mills scored four goals apiece in Telstar’s victories over Dirigo and Hall-Dale, then added two more in the Rebels’ win over Winthrop.

Games of the week

Jay at Livermore Falls, 7:30 p.m. Monday

Andies host their unbeaten rivals under the lights.

*Note- Pending if Jay beats Georges Valley Saturday.

Sacopee Valley at St. Dom’s, 4 p.m. Thursday

Saints looking to avenge 3-2 loss in season-opener.

REDEMPTION CENTER

St. Dom’s almost never experiences the indignity of a losing record at any time during the field hockey season. Easy to understand, then, why the Saints have circled Thursday’s home date against Sacopee Valley on their calendar.

The Saints endured the long bus ride home from South Hiram bearing the rare burden of an 0-1 record after a 3-2 overtime loss to the Hawks on Sept. 5.

While it’s true that St. Dom’s bounced back with four relatively easy wins headed into Saturday’s homecoming clash against North Yarmouth Academy, the Saints haven’t forgotten the empty feeling for a minute.

“We should have won that game,” lamented St. Dom’s coach Brian Kay. “That’s the kind of game where you look back at the end of the season and realize it could have been worth home-field advantage in the playoffs. We’ll see what happens.”

The second installment of the annual home-and-home series would have been a big event, regardless. It’s a rare chance for both St. Dom’s and Sacopee Valley to test themselves against top-notch competition in preparation for a possible postseason encounter with a Mountain Valley Conference power such as Telstar or Jay.

St. Dom’s rebuilding defense pitched three consecutive shutouts between the opening-day loss and last Wednesday’s 6-3 win over Freeport.

Mary Lewis led the Saints with 15 goals through five games. Colleen Rideout scored six, with Taylor Tarr and Eliza Dox depositing two apiece.

NOT SO PEACEFUL, QUEASY FEELING

High school teams usually feel the brunt of contagious illness in winter, when daylight and warmth are in short supply and immune systems slow to a crawl.

Edward Little didn’t even get to the autumn equinox before its first red-alert situation, one that involved the football team.

“We’ve had six or seven guys out of practice two weeks in a row. I had a backup linebacker call me 6:30 (Friday) morning with a 101-degree fever. This is a kid who got reps in practice all week saying he wouldn’t be in school,” said EL coach Darren Hartley, whose team improved to 3-0 Friday night with a 13-12 win over Brunswick.

One or two coughs or cases of nausea are common in any close-knit group. By mid-week, though, the Red Eddies knew they had a much more serious situation on their hands. It diverted the boss from scribbling Xs and Os into janitorial mode.

“I sanitized all the drinking jugs today,” Hartley said. “I’m serious. We’ve got a thing that’s still going around, and I haven’t been in a very good mood about it. But what are you going to do when kids are laid up, sick?”

COACHING’S IN THE BLOOD

Class A champion Deering High School only had to look a few doors down for its new baseball coach.

Auburn native and former University of Maine associate coach Mike Coutts, 49, accepted the Rams’ post this week. Coutts replaces Mike D’Andrea, who resigned in the wake of alleged underage drinking by Deering players at a post-playoff party.

Coutts owns and operates Frozen Ropes, a year-round baseball and softball training facility in Portland. In addition to his 10-year stint at Maine, Coutts coached at Messalonskee and Edward Little in the 1980s.