GORHAM, Maine –  Seniors Brooke Carson (Bryant Pond, Maine/Oxford Hills), Jordan Cummings (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little), Sage Drinkwater (Steep Falls, Maine/Bonny Eagle) and Hanni Johnson (Livermore, Maine/Spruce Mountain) have been named captains of the 2024 University of Southern Maine Huskies' field hockey team.
 
The defending 2023 Little East Conference Champion Huskies were picked to finish repeat and finish first in the 2024 Little East Conference preseason coaches' poll, and open up their season on the road at University of New England on Friday (11:30 am).  Southern Maine finished its 2023 campaign as the conference's regular season and tournament champion with a record of 15-8 and a perfect 6-0 mark against Little East opponents.
 
A regular starter for the Huskies' defense, Johnson played and started in all 23 games last season, recording a pair of assists and a defensive save. A Marketing major, Johnson has played in 59 career games earning 38 starts.  A student-employee in the Athletics Department, Johnson was nominated for the Kimberly M. Turner Award at the 2023 Senior Honors Night Banquet.
 
A two-time All-Little East Conference forward, Carson finished as the Huskies' second leading scorer in 2023 with 12 goals and six assists for 30 points.  A clutch performer, Carson scored four game-winning goals last season, including Southern Maine's deciding goal in a 2-1 overtime win against VTSU-Castleton in the semifinals of the 2023 LEC Championship tournament.  A four-year recipient of the NFHCA National Academic Squad, a two-time NFHCA Scholar of Distinction, and a College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selection, Carson is earning a degree in Business.  She has 37 goals, 15 assists and 89 points in 68 career games.
 
A 2023 NFHCA All-Region selection, and back-to-back LEC Defensive Player of the Year (2022, 2023), Cummings has twice been a first team All-Little East Conference selection in the Huskies' defense.  Playing and starting in all 23 games last season, Cummings recorded for defensive saves, and added a goal and an assist.  One of just two Husky field hockey players to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors in program history, Cummings played a critical role in Southern Maine's first conference tournament championship in 20 seasons, spearheading a stingy defense that finished the LEC regular season undefeated (6-0) and limited conference opponents to just a 1.46 goals against average.  A Health Science major, Cummings is a two-time NFHCA Academic Squad member and a two-time College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honoree.
 
Returning as one of the Huskies' captains, Drinkwater is a three-time All-Little East Conference forward.  Drinkwater led Southern Maine with 31 points on 11 goals and nine assists, scoring three game-winners in 2023. Scoring a hat-trick, including the game-winner, in a 5-4 regular season overtime win against Keene State (9/30/23), Drinkwater has been one of the top offensive performers in the Little East throughout her career.  Sitting on 37 goals, 19 assists and 93 points in 68 career games, Drinkwater is currently ranked fourth in career assists, is tied for sixth in career goals and is sixth in career points.  A Linguistics major, Drinkwater is a three-time NFHCA National Academic Squad recipient.
 
 
 
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