CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- The America East Conference named Albany's Michelle Simpson (Middlesbrough, England/University of Teesside) the field hockey Player of the Week for her part in the Great Danes' upset win over #10 Ohio on Sunday, September 9. The Conference also announced Maine freshman Courtney Veinotte (Cannaan, Maine/Skowhegan) as the Rookie of the Week on Monday afternoon. Click here for full release.
Simpson scored both goals in the Great Danes' 2-1 double-overtime win over #10 Ohio on Sunday, Sept. 9. The senior, who leads Albany in scoring this season with three goals and one assist, notched her second gamewinner of the season in the game's second overtime. The defeat of Ohio marks the highest-ranked opponent the Great Danes have beaten since moving to Division I in 1999, as well as the highest-ranked opponent an America East team has upset this season.
In Maine's lone game last week, Veinotte tallied a game-high three points as a starter in a 3-1 win over Northwestern. The rookie assisted on the second goal of the game, and notched the third goal of the game. Veinotte leads the Black Bears in scoring this season.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (4-2, 0-0 America East) hosted its first two home games of the season last week... The Great Danes defeated Temple, 2-1, on Friday, Sept. 9 and then won a double-overtime thriller against No. 10 Ohio... The win over the Bobcats, a 2-1 decision, marked the highest-ranked opponent the Great Danes have defeated since moving to Division I in 1999... America East Player of the Week Michelle Simpson (Middlesbrough, England/University of Teesside) scored both goals in Albany’s win... Simpson, who leads Albany in scoring this season with three goals and one assist, tallied the Great Danes’ first goal of the game off an assist from Nicole Savage (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./James M. Coughlin) on a penalty corner... The two teamed up again in the game’s second overtime to give Albany the win... Junior midfielder Michele Polizois (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) scored both goals for Albany in the win over Temple... Polizois converted a penalty stroke in the first half, and scored the second goal for the Great Danes off a penalty corner... Junior goalkeeper Ashley Ross (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) has played every minute in the cage for the Great Danes... She boasts a .800 save percentage and a 1.27 goals against average in Albany’s six games... The Great Danes are receiving votes in the most recent NFHCA national poll... Albany will host crosstown-rival Siena on Friday at 7 p.m. before visiting nationally-ranked Boston College on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Boston University (3-2, 0-0 America East) played just one game on the week, dropping a 2-1 heartbreaker to cross-town rival Boston College on Friday at Jack Barry Field... The Terriers dominated the stat sheet for the game, outshooting the 13th-ranked Eagles, 14-6, and doubling them up on corners, 10-5... Sophomore Haley Robinson (Houston, Texas/The Kinkaid School) gave the Terriers a 1-0 lead off a corner with no time remaining in the first half. The midfielder collected a direct insert from senior Pam Spuehler (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury) and blasted a shot to the boards from the left side... BC rallied late by scoring twice in the final five minutes of regulation... The Terriers are ranked 18th in the most recent NFHCA national poll... After a light week, the Terriers will play three road games in five days, beginning with a cross-state trip to UMass on Wednesday (Sept. 12)... The team will also make weekend trips to Northeastern and Dartmouth.
Fairfield (1-4, 0-1 America East) played just one game last week... Elizabeth Thomas made a season-high 11 saves in a 3-1 loss to Lehigh last Wednesday, which raised her season total to 40 saves in five starts...Ashton DiDonato scored her first goal of the season in the Lehigh game, and the second of her career... The Stags travel to Columbia for a September 12 match up before hosting Big Ten tournament champion University of Iowa on Sunday. Fairfield will host a Big Ten team for the second time in three years, with the last time coming during the 2005 campaign. The program lost a 4-3 overtime decision to Northwestern that season.
Maine (1-4, 0-0 America East) had an impressive 3-1 win over Northwestern on Saturday afternoon... The Wildcats were receiving votes in the latest NFHCA Poll... Maine jumped out to early 2-0 lead less than 20 minutes into the game... The Black Bears eventually pushed their lead to 3-0 late in the first half... Northwestern scored its lone goal with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game... Maine was led by its rookies in the game... Rookie M?ire Dineen (Toronto, Ontario/Michael Power/St. Joseph) scored the first goal of the game and it turned out to be the gamewinner... It was her first career goal... America East Rookie of the Week Courtney Veinotte (Canaan, Maine/Skowhegan) assisted on the second goal for Maine and scored the third goal of the game for Maine... Veinotte leads the team in scoring with two goals and one assist for five points... Junior Brooke Anderson (Lovell, Maine/Fryeburg, Maine) also notched a goal in the game for the Black Bears... For Anderson, it was her first career point... Goalie Rebecca Giroux (Augusta, Maine/Cony) made eight saves in goal... The win was the first for first-year head coach Josette Babineau... The Black Bears hit the road for a pair of games next weekend when they travel to Brown and Quinnipiac before returning home for a season-long three-game home stand.
New Hampshire (3-3, 0-0 America East) went 1-2 last week with a road loss to Harvard (3-2) and a split at the UVM Sheraton Field Hockey Classic; the Wildcats were edged by 14th-ranked Virginia (2-0) and then upended UMass, 1-0, in overtime ... Brooke Bercari (Bordentown, N.J.), Sam Geary (Norwood, Mass.) and Margaux Shute (Norridgewock, Maine/Skowhegan Area) were named to the All-Tournament Team ... Shute compiled a 0.97 GAA and a .846 save percentage at the tourney as she recorded her first shutout of the season and fourth of her career with a seven-save effort vs. UMass ... Junior back Kara Napolitano (Waltham, Mass./Waltham) scored her first collegiate goal at Harvard ... Sarah Craigue (Concord, N.H./Concord) extended her point-scoring streak to four games with a goal vs. the Crimson ... Shauna Sellenger (Londonderry, N.H.) has already surpassed last year’s point total (six) with eight (2-4-8) in six games this season ... With two goals and two assists for six points, Craigue has matched her single-season high point total ... Half of UNH’s six games have been decided by one goal, and the Wildcats are 2-1 in those games; two goals has been the margin of difference in the other three games ... New Hampshire has a winning record against both of this week’s opponents ? Pacific (2-1) and Holy Cross (7-2) ... after this weekend’s home games, the Wildcats conclude September with four consecutive road games.
Vermont (5-1, 1-0 America East) went 1-1 on the week as it hosted the Sheraton Catamount Classic over the weekend ... The Catamounts won the opener, 3-1, over Massachusetts as senior Danielle Collins (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) recorded her school-record fourth career hat trick ... With the win, Vermont improved to 5-0 for the first time in school history ... Junior Maegan Luce (Hartford, Vt./Hartford) had two assists, while sophomore Kristen Heavens (Harwinton, Conn./Lewis Mills) made seven saves ... Collins broke the 100-point barrier in the game as she now has 105 for her career ... Her three tallies gives her 41 for her career and also moves her into first place all-time at Vermont as she passes Jeanne Gaudreau who held the record of 39 goals since 1981 ... UVM has now won nine straight regular season contests against teams from New England ... On Sunday the Catamounts suffered their first defeat of the season as they lost to #14 Virginia, 2-1 ... Trailing 2-0, Vermont tried to make a comeback when senior Kelly McClintock (Williston, Vt./Rice) scored with 5:24 left to cut the deficit in half, but that would be as close as the Cats would get ... Collins, Heavens and junior Kim Striegler (Whitney Point, N.Y./Whitney Point) were each named to the all-tournament team ... Sunday was the first meeting between the Catamounts and Cavaliers ... The two goals given up by the Cats on Sunday match the total they allowed in their first five games of the season ... Vermont has a busy week ahead with three games starting on Thursday with a neutral site game against Pacific at New Hampshire ... The Catamounts then travel to Louisville for a pair against nationally ranked foes in Michigan on Saturday (2:00pm) and then the host Cardinals on Sunday (2:00pm).