University of Maine field hockey forward Kate Richardson wanted to come to America to go to college and play field hockey.
So she left her native Edinburgh, Scotland to attend the Shrewsbury School in England because it had the reputation for preparing its students for good college opportunities academically and athletically in America as well as other countries.
“But then [COVID-19] happened so a lot of schools didn’t need athletes. I became unsure of myself so I applied to three schools in England that were good in field hockey,” said Richardson.
Her coach at Shrewsbury, Kayleigh Maw, was a friend of UMaine associate head coach Michelle Simpson and contacted Simpson on Richardson’s behalf.
“She told Michelle she had a pretty special athlete who just needed some (skill) development. She got her information and it worked out,” said UMaine head coach Josette Babineau.
Now in her third season at UMaine, Richardson is off to a fast start for the 4-1 Black Bears. She already has two goals and an assist and both of her goals have been game-winners.
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She broke a 2-2 tie at Indiana with 9:07 left and UMaine went on to post a 4-2 win.
Last Sunday, she opened the scoring 19:02 into the game against Central Michigan and the Black Bears triumphed 2-0.
All of which makes Richardson glad she made the move to Orono.
“I love to meet new people and go to new places far away from home,” said Richardson, who had a positive first impression of the University of Maine.
“Everyone was so welcoming and the campus was lovely,” said Richardson. “And it was nice knowing (Simpson) was from the UK. We had that in common.”
Simpson is from Middlesbrough, England.
By her own admission, Richardson had limited skills when she arrived on campus.
“My freshman year was tough. I didn’t have very good skills. But everyone wants you to get better and encouraged me to get better,” said Richardson. “The team environment helped me. I love being on a team.”
She had a goal and an assist in 18 appearances off the bench her freshman year.
She made nine starts among her 20 appearances last season and scored three goals while assisting on another. She was fifth on the team in goals and fifth in points with seven.
Richardson earned a berth on the America East all-tournament team.
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Her improvement stems in large part from running tirelessly to get involved on the defensive side of the ball.
The 5-foot-10 Richardson uses her long reach to break up opposing attacks and trigger UMaine counter-attacks.
“Her fitness is the best I have ever seen from a player in our program,” said Babineau. “And she is more powerful than a distance runner.”
Babineau said Richardson is always moving, trying to contribute wherever she can.
Even though she is a center-forward, she often finds herself playing next to graduate student center midfielder Bhreagh Kennedy from Skowhegan.
“Both of them are tremendous runners and Kate makes it easier for Bhreagh on the defensive side of the ball. We’re stronger on the defensive side of the ball in midfield than we were last year,” Babineau said.
Richardson said she used to be a competitive runner.
Senior center back Poppy Lambert agreed with Babineau, calling Richardson the fittest girl she’s ever met.
“And she is such a strong player up front. She has dominant size and speed. But she will also come back and put pressure on the ball which helps us out defensively,” said Lambert. “She has really come along with her skills as well.”
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Richardson said defense is important and she feels her stick skills have improved as has her tackling.
Babineau said Richardson does a better job receiving the ball and protecting it now and is working on passing the ball quicker instead of trying to dribble it the whole way.
Richardson doesn’t care how many goals she scores, saying “it doesn’t matter who scores. We just want to win.”
The Black Bears lost their season-opener 3-0 at Northwestern to a Huskies team that was the preseason No.1 and was the NCAA Division I runnerup the past two years after winning the title in 2021.
UMaine has since won four straight for their best start since 2018.
“The Northwestern game was a lot of fun. We learned from them. We put up a real good fight,” said Richardson.
The Black Bears are anxious to atone for last year’s disappointing 8-12 season, including a 3-5 conference record. It was their first losing record in America East since 2012.
She said he infusion of new players like transfers Victoria Tinghitella and Alexandra Sacker from Kent State, Micaela Grajales from Quinnipiac, Maeve Fogarty from Rochester and Rozarie Mrazova from a school in her native Czech Republic have had a major impact and the team is highly motivated to make a run at an America East title.
Richardson is enjoying life in Maine, calling it a “really pretty state especially in the fall. I like all the (weather) seasons. The people are great and I love the team.”
UMaine will travel to play No. 17 Boston College on Friday at 5 p.m. and Boston University at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
