Abbie Derosier has earned the state’s top individual field hockey honor after completing her senior season as the goalie for Brewer High School.
She took home the Miss Maine Field Hockey award at the state banquet on Sunday, which goes to the top senior player across the state.
“It feels incredible. It’s a surreal moment,” Derosier said Monday. “I would have never imagined I’d actually make it this far.”
She credited her teammates and coaches, saying that she couldn’t have achieved the honor without them.
Derosier, who also plays goalie for the Penobscot Pioneers cooperative ice hockey team, was asked by the Bangor Daily News about the mindset she uses to have success guarding the net.
There’s a common (but not necessarily scientific) narrative about goldfish having a short memory. And that’s how Derosier tries to approach being a goalie: focus on one play at a time, not what happened before.
“My coach likes to say, a mind of a goldfish,” Derosier answered. “So every mistake, I kind of just let it go. I just focus on the next shot and I don’t let anything else that has happened before worry me.”
The Brewer senior has been playing field hockey goalie since sixth grade, saying that she was “kind of just forced into being a goalie” because she already played the position in ice hockey.
The biggest difference between playing in goal on the field and on the ice is what happens after a save, Derosier explained. In ice hockey, she can cover the puck and stop the play. But in field hockey, she has to get the ball out and direct it to teammates as soon as possible.
And with ice hockey season already underway, it’s not as if Derosier has a ton of time to enjoy her new award. But she and her family were able to reflect on it at dinner Sunday night, and the journey she took to secure the accomplishment as a Brewer Witch after starting her high school career in Orono.
“It was amazing, just thinking about how far I’ve come from freshman year at Orono to finally my senior year at Brewer,” she said. “The journey is just amazing.”
She thought the statewide award shows the strength of the Brewer program under coach Jamie Emerson.
“I’m so glad that I was able to bring it here because there’s really no other school that I’d want to bring it to, just because I have such a strong connection with this program,” Derosier said. “They showed me what it means to be a field hockey player, and how much I love this sport.”
She beat out fellow award finalist Grace Mayo of Skowhegan High School, who is not just a competitor, but a close friend. In addition to playing against each other, the two have also played and trained together.
“I just feel like we’ve pushed each other so hard, and we both were very deserving of that award,” Derosier said. “So I’m very proud of both of us.”
