PORTLAND — You can call her a prophet, or simply a savvy field hockey coach.

Either way, Sanford’s Diana Walker sagely predicted that senior fullback Kim Vogel was about to score, as the minutes ticked away in the Redskins’ 5-1 win over Portland, Thursday at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

Vogel, who had played her entire varsity career without once denting the net, made her coach look good and made her teammates delirious after finally netting the elusive first tally.

It came with 10 minutes left in the game, after a penalty corner on a play that wasn’t exactly designed to run her way.

But there she was, in the right spot at a most opportune time.

“Me and (fellow defender) Amanda Tierney just kind of switched,” said Vogel. “Then the corner happened, and I didn’t have time to run back. So it was like ”˜what do I do?’ So Lindsey (Nolette) said ”˜just back me up, and I’ll pass it to you’.”

Walker saw all this happening from her sideline vantage point and uttered aloud, “Kim’s going to score this one.”

Maybe it didn’t rank with Babe Ruth’s “called shot” in the drama department.

But Walker’s comment was more than mere idle chatter.

“She wanted it so bad,” said Walker. “And that’s what we need in the circle, right now. We need people that want that. We want people to see that kind of enthusiasm, and that kind of hunger. Hopefully it will catch on.”

It took Vogel two whacks at the ball, but the second try did the job.

“I’ve been back here (on defense) for the past nine years,” said Vogel, “so it was nice to be up here for once. This was a good day.”

Matters had gone well enough for the Redskins (6-2) even before Vogel’s goal, which prompted plenty of hugs from teammates when she returned to the bench.

Sanford was playing its first game of the year on artificial turf, and found the fast conditions much to its liking, as it raced to a 2-0 first half lead.

Given that the state championship will be staged on a similar surface at Scarborough High School, the Redskins would like to get used to playing on one.

“It would be nice,” said Vogel. “I’m looking forward to that.”

Said Walker, “We love playing on turf. And this is like having an indoor practice to work on your speed.”

The Redskins took a 2-1 lead into the second half, then quickly ripped the contest open with tallies by Krystal Walsh and Liz Rancourt.

That set the stage for Vogel’s highly memorable goal.

“I’ve garnered a lot of assist before,” Vogel said, “but I’d never scored, so this was my chance. I didn’t want to go a whole career without scoring.”

— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com.