CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Vermont's Danielle Collins (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) and Albany's Anouk Vandenberg (Groningen, Netherlands) each notched
weekly awards in field hockey for the week ending October 14. America East recognized Collins as Player of the Week for the second time this season, while Vandenberg captured her first rookie award. Click here for full release.
Collins guided the Catamounts to a win in their only game of the week as they defeated New Hampshire, 3-0, at home. The senior had a hand in all three scores with a pair of goals and an assist. Collins picked up her fourth gamewinner of the season by netting the first tally just 36 seconds into the contest. She added her league-high 14th goal of the season 6:03 before the half and then set up classmate Betsy Welsh for the final goal of the game 2:43 after halftime. Collins leads America East in both goals (14) and points (31).
Vandenberg finished the week with one goal and two assists in the Great Danes' 5-1 win over non-conference opponent Cornell on Saturday. Vandenberg, who has a conference-best 10 assists on the season, assisted on both of Michele Polizois' goals in the first half, including the gamewinner just before halftime. She then scored the final goal of the game, and her first collegiate goal, with three minutes remaining as she popped an unassisted shot over the Cornell goalkeeper.
Team Notebooks:
No. 17 Albany (12-3 overall record, 3-0 America East record) won their only game of the week, a 5-1 decision over non-conference opponent Cornell on Saturday... Junior midfielder Michele Polizois (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) scored two goals for the Great Danes, including the gamewinner... Polizois tallied both of her goals off penalty corners, with assists going to Jess Lindsey (Norristown, Pa./Methacton) and America East Rookie of the Week Anouk Vandenberg (Groningen, Netherlands/Proclinius Gymnasium) on both goals... Lindsey and Vandenberg also teamed up to assist Nicole Savage’s (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./James M. Coughlin) goal in the second half... Freshman Joanna Irey (Jamison, Pa./Central Bucks South) scored her first collegiate goal off an assist from senior Michelle Simpson (Middlesbrough, England/Univ. of Teesside)... Vandenberg closed out scoring for UAlbany, recording her first collegiate goal on an unassisted tally late in the game... Savage leads the team with 12 goals and three assists for 27 total points... Vandenberg has a team-best 10 assists... Junior goalkeeper Ashley Ross (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) is recording a 0.90 goals against average and a .826 save percentage... The Great Danes, who continue to be ranked in the STX/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll, visit America East rival Boston U. on Saturday at 1 p.m. before hosting non-conference Rutgers on Sunday at 3 p.m.
No. 13 Boston University (12-4, 3-0 America East) earned a pair of shutout victories, staying undefeated in conference play with a 1-0 win at Maine before coming back to Boston and recording a 3-0 decision against Brown... Senior Sarah Shute (Lincolnville, Maine/Somers (N.Y.)) hand a hand in all three goals against the Bears, scoring twice and adding an assist... Junior Holly Willes (Harare, Zimbabwe/Arundel School) scored the lone goal in the triumph over the Black Bears... Senior Hayley Hamada (Escondido, Calif./San Pasqual) assisted on Wiles' gamewinner before adding a goal of her own versus Brown... Seniors Pam Spuehler (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury) and Hadley Adams (Barre, Mass./Quabbin Regional) earned one assist apiece on the weekend... The Terriers have now recorded six shutouts this season, one shy of last year's total... Redshirt freshman Amanda Smith (Avon, Conn./Avon) currently has a shutout skein of 141:35, while freshman Kim Kastuk (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) has not allowed a goal in her last 118:30 in the cage... The Terriers will host Albany on Saturday in a battle for first place in the America East standings, as each team has won all three of its conference tilts so far.
Fairfield (3-13, 0-3 America East) posted a 1-0 win over Robert Morris on Sunday, as senior Liz Thomas recorded her second shutout of the season. Thomas made 11 saves last week, including a week-high of six stops against Siena College. Thomas entered the week ranked sixth in Division I for saves per game with 9.00...Molly Byrnes scored her third goal of the season in the Robert Morris win. The goal was her first career gamewinner, and tied for the team lead with eight points on the season (three goals, two assists). Emily Janis is the team’s co-leader with two goals and four assists...The Stags return to action this week by hosting Quinnipiac College on October 17, before returning to America East play with a game at New Hampshire on October 20.
Maine (4-10, 0-3) dropped a pair of games on the week... Maine fell to# 13 Boston University, 1-0, on Friday afternoon, before dropping a game to Davidson in Hanover, 4-3, in overtime on Sunday afternoon... The 1-0 loss to Boston University was the second 1-0 loss of the season for the Black Bears... The Davidson game was the fifth overtime game of the season for the Black Bears... Maine has a 1-4 record in those games... Maine had a 20-11 advantage in shots in the game on Sunday against Davidson... Amy Zdrojesky (East Greenville, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) scored her team-leading fourth goal of the season on Sunday at Davidson... Brooke Anderson (Lovell, Maine/Fryeburg) and Jackie D'Amato (Upton, Mass./Nipmuc) each also tallied goals for the Black Bears in Sunday's contest... Maine will host Vermont in the final home game of the season on Friday, Oct. 19... Before the game, Maine will honor its seniors for their accomplishments over the past four years.
New Hampshire (7-8, 1-2 America East) lost road games last week against intrastate rival Dartmouth College (3-2 in OT penalty strokes) and the University of Vermont (3-0) ... The game vs. Dartmouth marked the third consecutive game decided beyond the 70 minutes of regulation ... Overall, the Wildcats are 2-2 this season in games decided by overtime ... Cally Cooke (Newburyport, Mass./Newburyport) scored on a penalty stroke for the second consecutive game with her goal at Dartmouth ... Margaux Shute (Norridgewock, Maine/Skowhegan Regional) has a 1.80 GAA and a .756 save percentage this season, and both marks would be single-season bests for the senior goalkeeper ... Shute has started 52 consecutive games, which dates back to the 2005 season opener ... The Wildcats hold the shot advantage over the opposition in the second half (92-91) as well as both the first (14-10) and second (10-5) overtime sessions, but have been outshot 212-199 overall ... UNH has generated a 92-81 edge in penalty corners this season ... UNH will play its third neutral-site game of the year Oct. 16 against Davidson College at Dartmouth College’s Scully-Fahey Field; the ?Cats have a 1-1 mark at neutral sites ... New Hampshire has a 5-1 home record and will play its last two home games of the season this weekend against Fairfield and #12 Boston College.
Vermont (10-5, 2-1 America East) won its only contest of the week, 3-0, over New Hampshire at home on Saturday in league play... America East Player of the Week senior Danielle Collins (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) scored twice and added an assist on the third goal of the day while sophomore Kristen Heavens (Harwinton, Conn./Lewis Mills) picked up her fourth shutout of the season... It only took Collins 36 seconds into the game to give the Catamounts the only goal they would need... Senior Betsy Welsh (Lambertville, N.J./Princeton Day School) would score Vermont's final goal as it was her first of the season on a feed from Collins... Vermont has won its last three meetings against New Hampshire... With the win Vermont has now posted back-to-back double-digit win seasons for the first time in program history, after winning 11 last season... The Catamounts are now 6-1 at home this year and have won 10 of their last 12 at Moulton Winder Field... In eight of Vermont's 10 wins this season the Catamounts have scored exactly three goals... The Catamounts have won five straight games against teams from the Granite State... Collins has six goals and three assists against New Hampshire during her career... Collins' 14 goals this year are the fourth-most in a single season all-time at Vermont... With an assist junior Maegan Luce (Hartford, Vt./Hartford) moved into sole possession of fourth in career assists at UVM... The Catamounts return to action on Friday when they travel to face Maine in an America East clash starting at 2 p.m.