Michelle Oswald has a tendency to be hard on herself and says she has come a long way with that in the last five years. Still, there are moments when she forgets that perfection is always meant to be elusive.

"It's hard when you're not perfect to be a perfectionist," Oswald said, laughing.

While Oswald is imperfect like everyone else, she has a lot to hang her hat on. She's doing well in school as an athletic training major at the University of New England, and as a sophomore, she is second on the field hockey team in points with 10 goals and three assists in eight games.

"She's a determined kid. She brings a lot of spunk with her," UNE coach Joan Howard said. "She gets frustrated easily. She's a perfectionist. So you have to rein her in and tell her you can't be perfect all the time."

Oswald, who holds the career assist record at Mt. Blue High School, had four goals and three assists as a freshman.

Howard attributes the increase in production to more playing time, while Oswald thinks it's partly because of confidence.

"I think maybe as a freshman, I was kind of timid," Oswald said. "Against all the new teams I would be playing against, I wasn't sure how I could handle all of that."

Oswald has learned to handle that and a lot more. Each week, she has 10 hours of clinical training, along with six hours for a work-study job, on top of classes and studying.

"Having all of that and field hockey is actually a lot easier than it sounds, because it makes you organize," she said. "Actually, after field hockey season, I get really nervous, because I have a lot of time, and I'm like, 'I can do that later.' "

On the field, Oswald has two hat tricks this season, including one Oct. 1 in Waterville against Thomas College. She is smart enough to know where she is supposed to be and fast enough to get there quickly, and Howard says a lot of her goals come from simply being in the right place at the right time.

After Oswald's career at Mt. Blue was done, Mt. Blue coach Jeannine Paradis said, "if her knees hold out, she'll be a force by the time she graduates."

This season, the knees are still a question for Oswald, and she ices them and takes medication before and after each game.

Oswald went to one doctor who told her she has a partial tear of her meniscus. Another doctor told her there is no tear. She's waiting until the end of the season to get a third opinion.

In the meantime, Oswald says if she tweaks the knee wrong, it can hurt for a couple weeks. Then there was the time she thought she felt something snap.

"I didn't come out," Oswald said, "but I felt it, that's for sure."

Still, Oswald is out there each game, and she has helped UNE to a 6-2 record after the Nor'easters finished 7-9 last fall. Their new finisher is a big reason for that, and it's someone who had always preferred setting up the goal to actually scoring it.

"I really, really want to come out of this with a winning season," Oswald said, "and hopefully assist a little bit more. I kind of miss that."

Matt DiFilippo -- 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com