Michael Palacio of Stony Brook was named America East Men's Soccer Player of the Week. Sam Groves of Hartford and Brendan Symington of Vermont shared Rookie of the Week honors. Click here for full release
Palacio had a goal and two assists as the Seawolves posted a perfect 3-0-0 week. He had an assist on the eventual game-winner in a 2-1 win at Columbia on Monday and added an assist in a 2-0 win at Adelphi on Thursday. He scored the game’s first goal in a 2-1 win over Niagara on Sunday.
Groves came off the bench in the 37th minute and scored the game-tying goal and assisted on the game-winner as Hartford won 2-1 at James Madison. His goal in the 56th minute tied the game and then he sent Daniel Antunez in on a breakway for the game-winner 8:24 into the first overtime. The win extended the Hawks’ unbeaten streak to four (3-0-1).
Symington had a goal and an assist as Vermont went 2-1-0 on the week. His first collegiate goal was the game-winner with 14 seconds left in the second overtime as the Catamounts defeated Sacred Heart, 1-0. He also had an assist in the 2-1 win over Central Connecticut on Sunday.
Team Notes:
Albany Great Danes
UAlbany (1-5-1) went 0-2-1 in three games this past week... The Great Danes are winless since a season-opening victory against Adelphi on Aug. 31... UAlbany tied Syracuse, 1-1, in its home opener on Sept. 12... Freshman Ian Peach (South Hempstead, N.Y./South Side) got the Great Danes on the board four and a half minutes into the match as he headed a crossing pass into the goal from seven yards out... Don Johnson (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) picked up the assist on the goal... The Orange tied the contest on a penalty kick in the 53rd minute... The two teams played the final 37 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime scoreless to deliver the tie... The Great Danes traveled to Green Bay, Wis. for the Green Bay Nike Classic on Sept. 15 & 16... In its first game of the Classic on Sept. 15, UAlbany lost to host Green Bay 3-0... The Phoenix went up 1-0 in the 17th minute on a header off a cross from the right side of the goal... Green Bay added a second goal in the 42nd minute on a one-time volley from 18 yards out... The Phoenix tallied their third goal just over three minutes into the second half on a one-timer off a throw-in... In their second game of the Classic on Sept. 16, the Great Danes were defeated by Denver 2-0... After a scoreless first 73 minutes, the Pioneers scored two goals in the final 17 minutes of the match... Denver scored the first goal of the game off a scramble six yards in front of the net... The Pioneers added their second goal with three and a half minutes remaining on a mishandled crossing attempt... Peach and senior defender Mike DiNeen (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville) were named to the Green Bay Nike Classic All-Tournament Team... The Great Danes return to action on Wednesday, Sept. 19 at crosstown-rival Siena at 5 p.m.
Binghamton Bearcats
Binghamton (5-2-0) improved to 5-0 with a 1-0 win at Bucknell on Tuesday. In the process, the Bearcats were off to their best start since 1986 and blanked their first five opponents in a season for the first time since 1987. Furthermore, the Bearcats were receiving votes in both the College Soccer News Top 30 and nscaa/adidas Top 25 Weekly Polls ... the Bearcats perfect run, however, ended with a pair of loses at the Nike Richmond Challenge this past weekend.
Boston University Terriers
Boston University (2-3-0) lost a hard-fought 2-1 decision against then-No. 15 Harvard on Friday, Sept. 14 on the Crimson’s Ohiri Field... Junior Dan Schultz (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seven Hills School) scored the Terriers’ only goal after classmate Neil Hlavaty (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East) sent a deep pass into the left side of the box at 49:45... BU out-shot the Crimson 16-12 after recording only two shots in the first half... The Terriers play their only home game for the next three weeks on Monday night, when BU hosts C-USA member UCF at 7 p.m. on Nickerson Field.
Hartford Hawks
Hartford (3-0-1) is the lone unbeaten team in America East... The Hawks extended their unbeaten streak to four games with a 2-1 overtime win at James Madison on Friday... America East Rooke of the Week Sam Groves (Sutton, Mass./Worcester Academy) had a goal and an assist in the game... Hartford plays host to intra-state rival Fairfield on Tuesday before Temple comes to town on Saturday.
Maine Black Bears
Maine (1-4-0) had just one game on the week, a match-up with #21 Brown in Providence, R.I.... Maine dropped the game 2-1.... Maine's opponents have a combined record of 14-8 this season... Included in Maine's record is a 1-0 loss at #11 Harvard and a 2-1 loss at #21 Brown... Four of Maine's five games this season have been decided by one goal... Both Harvard and Brown are undefeated on the season... Dimitri Anastasiou (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) scored Maine's lone goal against Brown... Maine keeper Nemanja Kostic (New Belgrade, Serbia/Virginia Intermont College) earned an assist on the goal by Anastasiou after he punted the ball to him... Kostic tied his season-high with seven saves against Brown... He also stopped seven shots in the season-opener against UMass... After playing just one game last week, the Black Bears will play three games this week... Maine faces Boston College on Tuesday afternoon in Chestnut Hill... Maine will face Sacred Heart on Friday evening in a game that will be played in Yarmouth, Maine... Maine hosts Long Island on Sunday afternoon in Orono... It will be just the second game for Maine in Orono this year... The Black Bears opened the season hosting Massachusetts in Orono on August 31.
UMBC Retrievers
UMBC (3-1-1) saw its unbeaten streak end at four, as national power VCU edged the Retrievers, 2-1 in a non-conference match at UMBC Soccer Stadium...the Rams are receiving votes in both the NSCAA and College Soccer News polls... VCU’s score in the 59th minute was the first goal allowed by UMBC in 398 minutes of action and snapped their shutout string at three... UMBC only managed only first half shot as VCU entered the game allowing an average of two shots per game in the first half... junior forward Kevin Gnatiko (Montgomery Village, Md./Watkins Mill) from right to left found sophomore linemate Ime Umoh (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall/Methodist) in the 87th minute to cut the Ram lead to 2-1... Umoh headed the ball down from eight yards away and it bounded just inside the far right post with 3:28 remaining... Umoh, who became the first Retriever to hit the two-goal mark this season, had UMBC’s best chance in the closing moments, but his blast from 22 yards away in the final minute was blocked by a Ram defender... junior goalkeeper Steve King (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) continued his outstanding play with a season-high seven saves... despite the loss, UMBC is still 9-2-6 in their last 17 non-conference home games dating back to 2002... UMBC takes on Lehigh (3-1 including a win over Rutgers) in Bethlehem, Pa. on Wednesday, before returning home to entertain another CAA foe, James Madison on Saturday, Sept. 22.
New Hampshire Wildcats
New Hampshire (1-3-2) could not get a goal, going 1-0-1 this past weekend, as they hosted the 18th annual Nike Fall Classic in Durham ... Midfielders Scott Rowling (Richboro, Pa./Council Rock South) and Kyle Urso (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East) were selected to the All-Tournament Team ... The Wildcats fell to Central Connecticut State on Friday afternoon but a score of 2-0 ... The Blue Devils scored after 56 minutes of scoreless play, then tallied on another with just over seven minutes remaining, securing the game for CCSU ... Rowling and Urso led the Wildcats in shot with four, while goalkeeper Mike Jenne (Vernon, N.Y./Whitesboro Central) made three saves ... On Sunday, UNH battled for a scoreless 110 minutes to a 0-0 draw against Sacred Heart University ... Rowling had a chance to get on the board in overtime, but his hard shot from the middle of the box soared high ... Urso had an opportunity to end the scoring drought with a point blank shot that curved wide-right with 1:43 remaining in the second overtime period ... Jenne made six saves, earning his second shutout of the season ... The Wildcats return to action next Saturday, Sept 22, when they travel to face Colgate.
Stony Brook Seawolves
Stony Brook (4-2-0, 0-0-0) had a perfect week, going 3-0 in its games. In a 2-1 win over Columbia, Maurice Brown (Clarendon, Jamaica/James Madison) and Mahamadou Simpara (Bamako, Mali/Bryant & Stratton) had the goals for Stony Brook, who scored the first goal for the second game in a row. In a 2-0 shutout win over Adelphi and played at St. John’s campus, Petar Rakovic (Kragujevac, Serbia/St.John’s) playing at his former school, scored his first goal as a Seawolf. Simpara registered his second goal in a row and Dawid Ditrich (Gdansk, Poland/Academy of Physical Education & Sport) recorded his first shutout in goal. Capping the week, the Seawolves fought off a tough Niagara squad to beat the Purple Eagles, 2-1. Michael Palacio (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach), the America East Player of the Week, scored his second goal of the season to put the Seawolves up, 1-0. Mihailo Pavlisin (Subotica, Serbia/Ekonomski Fakultet Subotica) added his first tally, late in the second half. Stony Brook has just one game this week when it travels to face #23 Towson on Saturday afternoon.
Vermont Catamounts
Vermont (3-4-0) snapped its four-game losing streak with wins over Sacred Heart and Central Connecticut over the weekend to capture the Nike Fall Soccer Classic title in Durham, N.H. ... The team championship was the fourth straight for Vermont at UNH’s annual tournament ... Tyler Hasman (Portland, Ore./Lincoln/Yavapai J.C.) and Loren Hill (Eugene, Ore./Sheldon/Oregon State) scored to lift UVM over Central Connecticut Sunday ... Hill’s goal, the first of his career, came four minutes after CCSU opened the scoring in the first half ... Hasman finished a nice pass from Lee Stephane Kouadio (Woodlyn, Pa./Ridley) just 1:23 after halftime for the game-winner Sunday as the Catamounts out-shot the Blue Devils 22-3 in the second half and 30-12 for the game ... In Friday’s win over Sacred Heart, freshman Brendan Symington (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Grosse Pointe North) scored the game’s only goal with 14 seconds left in the second overtime. It was the first career goal for Symington who picked up his first assist on the tying goal in the Central Connecticut victory Sunday ... Roger Scully (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) equaled his career high with 11 saves against Sacred Heart in recording his second shutout of the season ... Hasman, Hill, Connor Tobin (Fort Collins, Colo./Fort Collins) and Will Haywood (Newton, Mass./Newton North) were named to the Nike Fall Soccer Classic All-Tournament Team ... Along with Scully, Tobin and Haywood led a strong team defense that allowed only one goal in two games after giving up eight in the previous four contests ... UVM began the week with a loss to #11 Harvard, the Catamounts second defeat to a ranked team this season ... Vermont continues its five-game road swing playing at Cornell Sunday.