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Foxcroft completes perfect season with state championship

LEWISTON — Foxcroft Academy field hockey got the offensive pressure going early against Spruce Mountain High School of Jay in the 2025 Class C championship during the middle of the day on Saturday, Nov. 8 at Lewiston High School’s Don Roux Field. 

The Ponies did not get the ball in the cage right away but the goals soon came with one in the second and third quarters and two more in the fourth as Foxcroft concluded a perfect 18-0 season with a 4-1 championship game victory. The gold ball is the fifth in program history in six final game berths, joining the 1991, 2007, 2013 and 2019 Class C titles (extending a run of state championships every half dozen years in the 21st century). A 2010 defeat is the lone blemish among the six appearances.

“They are a team that never gives up,” Foxcroft head coach Davan Walker said. “They have done that all season long and they battle, they push and it paid off.”

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
CLASS C CHAMPIONS! — Foxcroft Academy won the 2025 Class C field hockey championship with a 4-1 victory over Spruce Mountain on Nov. 8 at Lewiston High School, capping off a perfect 18-0 season. The gold ball is the fifth in program history to join the 1991, 2007, 2013 and 2019 Class C titles.

A 2000 Foxcroft Academy graduate now in her fourth season leading her alma mater, Walker became the third Pony field hockey head coach to win a state championship as she joins Gene Philpot and Stephanie Smith who both guided a pair of teams to the gold ball (1991 and 2007 and 2013 and 2019 respectively).

After having four penalty corners in both the first and second quarters, while yielding just three to Spruce Mountain, Foxcroft got on the scoreboard late in the first half. Junior Jenna Hartford got control of a loose ball from the right near the Phoenix cage and she sent a shot in for the 1-0 advantage at the 1:21-mark.

“Jenna never gives up, she has a quick shot and it paid off for her,” Walker said.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
CAPTAINS’ DUTIES — Pony senior captains Jaiyde True, left, and Emma McGary bring the newly-won Class C championship trophy over the Foxcroft fan section on Nov. 8 in Lewiston.

Foxcroft ended the day with an 11-7 corner advantage and two in the second half each led to goals.

Early in the third quarter freshman Addie Rayfield inserted the ball from the left to junior Jadenne Frigon. Frigon passed to senior co-captain Jaiyde True whose hard shot went in for a 2-1 lead.

The same play worked to perfection again early in the fourth quarter as True’s second goal put Foxcroft ahead 3-0 on a Frigon assist following Rayfield’s insertion.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
PULLING OUT ALL THE STOPS — Junior Jadenne Frigon stops the ball out of the reach of Spruce Mountain sophomore Elyssa Yanelli during the Class C championship on Saturday at Lewiston High School. Frigon would assist on a pair of goals coming off corners.

“She’s done that a couple times this season,” Walker said about the True goals. “We picked up that they weren’t covering her on that right side, so we flipped it to her twice and she knocked it in.”

“We came out with intensity and we tried to keep that up the whole game, keep pressure on them,” True, who along with co-captain Emma McGary are the only seniors on the roster, said. “We really connect well on the field, especially in games like these that are really important. The shots went in and it worked out really well for us.”

Spruce Mountain — the South third-seeded Phoenix end 2025 with a record of 13-4-1 after having a 5-game winning streak and 6-0-1 run snapped – would get on the scoreboard with 4:44 to play on a goal by senior Adelle Pease.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
HER SHOTS WERE TRUE — Foxcroft senior Jaiyde True scored a pair of goals off of penalty corners in a 4-1 victory over Spruce Mountain in the Class C championship.

The comeback bid was thwarted just over a minute later with the fourth and final goal for Foxcroft. Rayfield sent the ball from the left toward the goal and sophomore Kendall Killam was there to knock it in with 3:35 remaining on the clock.

Sophomore Lili Bisson made one save for the Ponies, blocking a shot in the first quarter to keep the game scoreless. At the other end of the field Spruce Mountain junior Kyleigh Marcotte stopped four shots, with three of her saves coming in the first half.

“We had a little bit of breakdown but we recovered really well and got another goal and kept things so that we still had a little relief,” True said.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
DOWN BY THE GOAL — Standing her ground by the Phoenix goal is Pony freshman Addie Rayfield.

“It feels good to bring it on back to the community who supported us, the school, the student body,” Walker said. “We are proud to bring it back.”

“We had a really good season, we were undefeated, “True said. “We just kept pushing, kept connecting, kept up our intensity and kept up our conditioning and it really flowed well for us.”

“We have a very strong team and a very strong group coming up,” she said, with nine starters set to return in 2026. “I think they can go all the way the next couple of years if they want it.”

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
EYES UP THE FIELD — Sophomore Ella Hutchinson looks where to pass the ball with junior Payson Hall at the ready behind her.

“No, we’re going to do it again next year,” Walker said about a goal to avoid another 6-year drought in-between state championships.

At 18-0, Foxcroft joins Class B champion Belfast Area High School as the only field hockey teams across all three classes to win every game this season. Class A champion Cheverus High School of Portland ended at 17-0-1.

On its way to the state championship, Spruce Mountain eliminated 4-time Class C champion Winthrop High School in the South final. Winthrop and Foxcroft have combined to win the last six Class C crowns – there was no championship in 2020.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
THROUGH THE DEFENSE — Foxcroft junior Jenna Hartford moves up between Spruce Mountain defenders during the opening quarter of the Class C championship on Saturday in Lewiston. Hartford would score the first of her team’s four goals, with hers coming late in the first half.

Spruce Mountain was making its second appearance in a Class C championship, falling in the 2018 game. The school formed nearly a decade and a half ago with the merger of Jay and Livermore Falls secondary institutions, after Foxcroft began its every six year title run.

Pony team members are seniors Emma McGary and Jaiyde True; juniors Kamryn Coelho, Jadenne Frigon, Payson Hall, Jenna Hartford, Madi Sands, Julia Smith; sophomores Lili Bisson, Harloe Boulier, Lola Calvo, Ava Dunton, Ella Hutchinson, Kendall Killam, Ana Martos, Ava Turner; freshmen Ella Annis, Luci Bisson, Lauren Caruso, Maddie Coffill, Emma Crossman, Addie Rayfield, Lexi Richardson; freshman manager Makynlee Sands; coaches Taylor Dow, Ava Rayfield and Kilee Salley and head coach Davan Walker.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
RUNNING THE CLOCK — Senior Emma McGary and Spruce Mountain sophomore Alaina Kachnovich run to the ball later in the fourth quarter, with McGary looking to gain possession to help run off clock with Foxcroft ahead 4-1.

FIELD HOCKEY

CLASS C CHAMPIONSHIP

Foxcroft 4, Spruce Mountain 1

SPR 0 0 0 1 – 1

FOX 0 1 1 2 – 4

Second: F — Hartford

Third: F – True (Frigon)

Fourth: F – True (Frigon); S – Pease (Kachnovich); F – Killam (Rayfield)

Penalty corners: S – 7, F – 11

Saves: S — Marcotte 4, F – Li. Bisson 1

Records: S — 13-4-1, F — 18-0

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
READY FOR THE CORNER — The Foxcroft defense kept Spruce Mountain from scoring off a first quarter penalty corner, including, from left, senior Emma McGary, sophomore Harloe Boulier, sophomore keeper Lili Bisson and sophomores Ella Hutchinson and Lola Calvo.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
GOAL NO. 3 — Senior Jaiyde True, 14, and the rest of the Ponies celebrate after True’s second goal of the game and third overall for the Foxcroft.

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