Anyone paying attention to area field hockey scoring early this season has seen a trend at Oxford Hills: When Heather Verrier scores a goal, the Vikings are likely to earn a win or a tie.

Verrier, one of a very few seniors on the team’s roster this season, has scored all of the Vikings’ goals — four in all — through five games.

“She was one of our high scorers last year. She’s on the front line and she’s aggressive,” coach Oxford Hills coach Cindy Goddard said. “She’s a scoring force, but we also have Ashley West, our center midfielder, who’s probably just as key a player. She just doesn’t get as many of the opportunities.”

And it’s not like Verrier is cherry picking, either.

“I have another senior that’s playing a little bit of wing, but she’s never played there before,” Goddard said. “She just kind of lets Heather get in there and do her thing. And (Verrier) is playing all over the field. She’s playing hard. It’s not like she’s standing in the circle waiting for the ball to come to her. That’s not the case at all.”

Verrier will need some help as the Vikings get to the meat of their season.

“We’re really young, but we’re not scoring much,” Goddard said.

But at 2-2-1 so far, the team remains on track toward its goals.

“It seems like we’ll probably be in the bottom of the pack there, battling for the last few spots,” Goddard said. “I feel that over the next couple of games, it’s going to shake out a little bit more, but I think we’ll be in there with the Brunswicks, the Mt. Ararats. Hopefully we can get that seventh or eighth spot. That’s the goal.”

Shooting machines

A good early gauge for Mountain Valley regarding its potential strength in the Mountain Valley Conference this season has been the sheer number of shots the Falcons have taken against their opponents.

Win, lose or tie, the Falcons have outshot each one of the teams they’ve faced.

“It’s hard to shut our offense down,” coach Melissa Forbes said. “”No one can just focus on one or two of our players, because we’re getting contributions from everywhere.”

Forbes isn’t kidding. On Wednesday, for the second time this season, six different players scored for Mountain Valley, this time in an 8-0 win over Boothbay.

“We did that against St. Dom’s, too, we scored six goals, and all three from different players,” Forbes said.

And if that front line starts to sputter, Forbes also has the oldest and most experienced defensive group in the conference.

“Our front line is pouring it on,” Forbes said, “but we know we can rely, certainly on Emily (Gallant, the goalie) and on the defense. We have a lot of experience there.”

The Falcons’ lone loss came in a rainy, muddy affair against Lisbon. They’ll have another crack at the Greyhounds later in the season. The team’s biggest test since that contest will come Monday in a showdown with new rival Spruce Mountain.

“Even a tie in that game is better than a loss, because we know how good they are,” Forbes said. “We don’t all have the same schedule in the MVC this year, either, so that’s going to be a big one for us.”