When you mention Notre Dame athletics in the tri-county area, the first name brought up in the word association game is usually Tom Knight, the basketball player from Dixfield.

There is another varsity athlete making waves for the Fighting Irish, however.

Kelsey Murphy of Winthrop, a graduate of St. Dominic Academy in 2009, was awarded her varsity letter jacket from Notre Dame for her role on the woman’s rowing team.

The letter jacket ceremony took place Oct. 11 for all Notre Dame athletes who earned their letter this past spring.

Murphy, a junior, was a walk-on to the rowing team her freshman year and was subsequently awarded a scholarship her sophomore and junior years at the school in South Bend, Ind. She helped her crew of eight place first in the Big East each of the last two years.

BEWARE OF THE TERRIERS

Thomas College women’s soccer received a boost from two local players in a 5-1 win over Maine Maritime Academy this past week.

Kristi Hilton, a freshman from Monmouth, assisted the game-winning goal by Arian Kumlangngam.

Senior Terissa Ridge of Rumford (Mountain Valley) provided the Terriers’ final tally in the last minute of the contest. It was the first goal of the season for Ridge, a tri-captain and one of only two seniors on the squad

Thomas also won the men‘s half of the doubleheader, 4-1.

Ben Russell of Farmington (Mt. Blue) scored the only goal for the Mariners. That represented the third straight game with a goal for Russell, who was the North Atlantic Conference player of the week for the period ending Oct. 16.

Russell registered his second game-winning goal of the season at Green Mountain, then provided the lone Maine Maritime goal in a 1-1 deadlock at Castleton.

TOP NEWCOMER

Also at Thomas, freshman women’s tennis player Jessica Bowen of Lewiston has been named North Eastern Athletic Conference East Division Rookie of the Year.

Bowen played No. 1 singles and doubles for the Terriers all season and combined for six wins in league action. Overall, she finished on the plus side of the ledger at 5-4 in singles and went 4-5 in doubles.

FARMINGTON FLURRY

Kaitlyn Bullen of Farmington scored the game-winning goal for the University of Maine at Farmington in a 2-0 win over Thomas.

Bullen, a sophomore, is second on the team with seven goals and 16 points for the Beavers, who are 6-2 in NAC play.

Senior co-captain Jessica Martin of Winthrop has five goals and two assists for UMF. She scored three times in her final home game, a 5-0 shutout of Colby-Sawyer.

Cheyenne McCarthy of Turner (Leavitt) has contributed a goal, while Samantha Webster of Dixfield (Dirigo) has logged an assist.

STORM STILL BREWING

Marlie Mochamer of Farmington (Mt. Blue) kept her University of New England women‘s soccer team unbeaten in conference play this past week.

Mochamer redirected a rebound late for UNE’s only goal in a 1-0 win over Salve Regina. The verdict improved the Nor’easters to 6-0-1 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference.

It was the third goal of the season for Mochamer.

UNE’s field hockey team finally sustained its first loss of the season after a school-record 13-game winning streak. Endicott dealt the Nor’easters a 5-0 defeat.

The Biddeford school bounced back with a 4-0 victory at Gordon on Wednesday. UNE is ranked No. 2 in New England East region of Division III field hockey behind MIT. The Nor’easters recent national ranking was UNE’s first in any sport since joining the NCAA in 1999.

Michelle Oswald of Jay (Mt. Blue) and Bri Tupper of Winthrop remain second and third on the team in scoring with eight and seven goals, respectively.

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