CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Albany's senior midfielder Michelle Simpson (Middlesbrough, England, University of Teesside) nabbed the final America East Field Hockey Player of the Week accolade after helping the Great Danes secure the second seed in the upcoming conference championship. Boston University's Kim Kastuk (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) recorded two shutouts last week en route to being named Rookie of the Week. These awards are for the week ending October 28. Click here for full release.
Simpson scored two unassisted goals in the Great Danes' 3-0 win over America East rival New Hampshire on Saturday, securing the second seed in the upcoming conference championship. Simpson scored both goals in the first half, recording her first tally of the game as she drove in the circle past several defenders and poked the ball into the left corner of the cage. She added her second goal at the 16 minute mark, taking a fast break to the goal for the score. Simpson now has 11 goals and eight assists on the season for 30 total points. This is the second weekly honor for the senior.
On her way to her fourth rookie of the week honor, Kastuk did not allow a goal in two games, picking up her fifth and sixth shutouts of the season. The freshman stopped both shots on goal she faced in a 2-0 road win over Harvard before recording one save in the Terriers' 2-0 triumph against Vermont. Her play allowed Boston U. to earn its fourth perfect conference season in program history.
Team Notebooks:
#16 Albany (14-4 overall record, 4-1 America East record) won its only game of the week, a 3-0 decision over America East rival New Hampshire on Saturday at Alumni Turf Field... Senior midfielder, America East Player of the Week, Michelle Simpson (Middlesbrough, England/Univ. of Teesside) scored two goals in the game, both unassisted tallies in the first half... She scored her first goal of the game as she drove into the circle past several defenders and poked the ball into the left corner of the cage... She added her second at the 16 minute mark, taking a fast break to the goal for the score... Simpson is now second on the team with 11 goals and eight assists for 30 total points... Sophomore Nicole Savage (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./James M. Coughlin) scored her team-leading 14th goal of the season earlier in the half... Savage, who now has 31 total points this season, is also leading the conference with six game-winning goals... Sophomore Jess Lindsey (Norristown, Pa./Methacton) and freshman Anouk Vandenberg (Groningen, Netherlands/Proclinius Gymnasium) recorded assists on the goal... Junior goalkeeper Ashley Ross (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) recorded her fifth shutout of the season with the win... Ross is now posting a 0.98 goals against average and a .805 save percentage... The Great Danes, seeded second, will play #3 Vermont in the 2007 America East Field Hockey Championship semifinal on Friday, November 2 at 2:30 p.m. Boston University will host the tournament at MIT's Jack Berry Field in Cambridge, Mass.
#14 Boston University (15-5, 5-0) capped the fourth perfect conference season in program history with a 2-0 home victory over Vermont in the regular-season finale on Saturday... On Wednesday, the Terriers closed out their non-conference slate with a 2-0 triumph at Harvard... Senior Hayley Hamada (Escondido, Calif./San Pasqual) scored a goal in each contest, including the gamewinner against the Crimson... Sophomore Suus Dekker (Rotterdam, Holland/Insula College) opened the scoring against Vermont, sending home her own rebound in the ninth minute for her third game-winning tally of the season... Junior Holly Wiles scored her fifth goal of the year in the win over Harvard, sending a shot to the boards off a penalty corner on assists from seniors Sarah Hudak (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) and Pam Spuehler (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury)... Sophomore Gabby Hajjar (Ottawa Hills, Ohio/Ottawa Hills) picked up an assist on Hamada's insurance goal against Vermont... America East Rookie of the Week, goalkeeper Kim Kastuk (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) earned both shutouts in the Terrier cage, increasing her season total to six... Prior to the Vermont game, the Terriers honored their eight-member senior class. The Class of 2008 has recorded 58 victories over their four seasons, two shy of the school record set by the Class of 1997... Boston U. will host #4 New Hampshire as the top seed in the 2007 America East Field Hockey Championship this Friday, November 2. Game time is set for 12 p.m.
Fairfield (3-17, 0-5) goalkeeper Liz Thomas finished her field hockey career with 394 career saves, placing third all time in Fairfield history. Thomas tallied 155 saves in 20 games this season, averaging 7.75 saves per game. She was ranked throughout the season in the NCAA stats, reaching as high as sixth in the standings...Thomas finished her career second all-time at Fairfield with a 2.24 goals against average, just eclipsing Kandiss Kulp's mark of 2.25...Molly Byrnes ended the season as the team's top scorer with eight points, netting three goals and two assists. Emily Janis was second with seven points, netting two goals and three assists...Anne Nieuwenhuis scored her first career goal in a 2-1 loss to Maine. The freshman netted the goal in the first half which gave the Stags a 1-0 lead.
Maine (5-11, 1-4) closed out the season with a 2-1 win over Fairfield on Saturday afternoon in Fairfield, Conn.... Maine got goals from Kim MacDonald (East Greenwich, R.I./East Greenwich) and Amy Zdrojesky (East Greenville, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) in the victory... For Zdrojesky, it was her team-leading fifth goal of the season and team-leading second game-winning goal... Zdrojesky led all Black Bears in scoring this season with five goals and three assists for 13 points... She finishes her career with 26 points... Rebecca Giroux (Augusta, Maine/Augusta) made four saves in the game to earn her third win of the season... It was the 21st win of her career... Senior Kristen Healy (Turner, Maine/Leavitt) played in an amazing 74 straight games in her career, never missing one the past four years. The Black Bears lose five seniors to graduation this year.
New Hampshire (9-11, 2-3) ended the regular season with road losses to #16 Albany (3-0) and Sacred Heart (3-1) ... UNH will be making its 13th appearance in conference postseason play ... The Wildcats have a 5-11 record in the America East Championship tourney and won their lone title in 1998 ... In their most recent appearance, the fourth-seeded ?Cats lost, 3-0, to top-seeded Boston University in a 2004 semifinal match-up at Jack Barry Field ... Fourth-seeded UNH plays top-seeded BU at Jack Barry Field in this year’s semifinal ... UNH has a 2-2 postseason record vs. the Terriers and a 4-8 mark overall in conference semifinal games ... UNH trails the all-time series vs. BU, 13-16-3, and has not defeated the Terriers since a 3-2 road victory in 2003 (five consecutive losses); in the last 10 meetings, UNH is 4-6 ... Freshman Devan Weed (East Hampstead, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) recorded her first collegiate point with an assist in the game at Sacred Heart ... Shauna Sellenger (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) recorded 19 points in her senior season to equal the total of her initial three years as a Wildcat ... UNH generated a 137-107 advantage in penalty corners and that included a decisive 62-44 edge in the second half ... Seven Wildcats started all 20 regular-season games; two others started all 19 games in which they played.
Vermont (12-6, 3-2 America East) lost its only contest of the week on the road to #14 Boston University, 2-0 ... The game marked the final regular season contest for the Catamounts who earned the third seed for the upcoming America East Championship, where they will face second-seeded Albany on Friday in Cambridge, Mass. ... Vermont will be making its third-straight trip to the America East Semifinals and fourth appearance overall when it faces the Great Danes on Friday ... The Catamounts are tied for the school record for wins in a single season (12) with at least one game remaining ... Albany won the regular season match-up between the two teams this year, 1-0, on October 6 ... Four of Vermont’s six losses have came to ranked teams this season, while the other two have been to the teams receiving the 21st and 22nd most votes in the nation this week (Virginia and Temple) ... The three seed is the Catamounts’ best-ever in their four appearances in the conference tournament.