CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- University at Albany's Michele Polizois (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) and University of Maine's Brittany Fleck (Vancouver, British Columbia/Crofton House School) were tabbed America East field hockey player and rookie of the week, respectively, for the week ending October 19. Polizois led the Great Danes to a conference win offensively, while Fleck turned in a solid performance for the Black Bears on the defensive end in an upset league victory. View the complete weekly release in PDF.
Polizois recorded a hat trick in a 4-1 America East Conference win over Fairfield on Saturday. Polizois scored the gamewinner with a penalty corner goal just before haftime. She scored the other two goals in the second half on a penalty corner and a penalty stroke. Polizois leads the team with 11 goals, and has also added five assists for 27 points this season. She leads the league in shots (99), goals (11) and game-winning goals (four). This is her third weekly award of the season.
Fleck played spectacular in net, making six saves in the cage to lead Maine to a win over Boston University which was previously unbeaten in conference play. The victory secured the Black Bears' first America East win of the season and kept them in the hunt for a spot in the conference championship. Fleck increased her average to 4.92 saves per game and lowered her goals-against-average to 2.87.
The conference season is now down to two games remaining for each team and all six squads are still in the running for a place in the four-team America East Championship on November 7 and 9. New Hampshire travels to Fairfield and Boston University takes on Albany on Saturday afternoon, while Maine and Vermont square off in a Sunday afternoon tilt.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (8-9 overall, 2-1 America East) defeated America East Conference opponent Fairfield, 4-1, in the team’s only game of the week... Senior defender Michele Polizois (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) recorded a hat trick in the game, scoring two goals off penalty corners and adding another on a penalty stroke... Polizois leads the team with 11 goals and has also added five assists for 27 total points... She has recorded a team-high 99 shots this season... Senior midfielder Michelle Simpson (Middlebrough, England/Univ. of Teesside) and junior defender Jess Lindsey (Norristown, Pa./Methacton) each tallied two assists in the game, both coming on Polizois’ penalty corner goals... Lindsey has moved into first place on UAlbany’s career assists chart with 35... Senior goalkeeper Ashley Ross (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) played all 70 minutes in the cage for the Great Danes, making four saves... Ross stands second all-time in UAlbany annals with 301 saves in her career... UAlbany will continue America East play on Saturday, hosting defending conference champion Boston U. at 1 p.m., as a part of Homecoming festivities.
Boston University (7-8, 2-1 America East) suffered its first conference home loss in nearly three years on Saturday, as Maine came away with a 2-1 victory at Jack Barry Field... The Terriers outshot the Black Bears, 20-4, and held a 13-1 advantage in corners, but two Maine goals less than a minute apart in the early stages of the second half proved to be the difference maker... Freshman Giovanna Monaco (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) scored her fourth goal of the season for the Terriers, cutting the deficit to 2-1 with under six minutes left in regulation... Boston U. pulled goaltender Kim Kastuk in favor of an extra attacker for the final 15 minutes of play and did not allow a shot the rest of the way... Junior Nikki Lloyd (Kent, England/Virginia Commonwealth) assisted on Monaco's goal... The result marked just the second time that Maine won on the road in the series with the other coming in 1993... Nearly 30 former players returned to campus for the Terriers' Alumnae Weekend... The Terriers will play host to UConn on Wednesday (Oct. 22) for a 3 p.m. game before traveling to Albany to face the Great Danes on Saturday (Oct. 25) in a battle for first place in the conference standings.
Fairfield University (4-11, 1-2 America East) continues its three-game home stand this week when it hosts the University of New Hampshire on Saturday and Yale University on Sunday. The dates will finish the team’s regular season home schedule for 2008, where Fairfield has recorded all four of its wins this season...The Stags have scored early in each of its last two games, posting a pair of goals in the opening seven minutes against Boston University in a 3-2 loss, and a goal just 71 seconds into the game against Albany, a 4-1 setback...Molly Byrnes scored her sixth goal of the season in the Albany game, taking over the team lead for goals scored. She places third in overall points with 12, one point shy of freshman Marit Westenberg and senior Emily Janis. Both Westenberg and Janis have five goals and three assists.
Maine (4-9, 1-2 America East) defeated Boston University, 2-1, in Cambridge, Mass...Maine jumped out to a 1-0 lead on freshman Kelly Newton’s (Vancouver, British Columbia/Crofton House School) seventh goal of the season...Stephanie Gardiner (Vancouver, British Columbia/Crofton House School) had an assist on the goal...Senior captain Nicole Emery (Winthrop, Maine/Winthrop) had the game-winning goal off a pass from sophomore Maire Dineen (Toronto, Ontario/Michael Power/St. Joseph)...It was Emery’s first goal of the season...Brittany Fleck (Vancouver, British Columbia/Crofton House School) played spectacular in net, making six saves...Maine last defeated Boston University in 2003, when the Black Bears went 15-6...Newton now has seven goals and seven assists on the season for 21 points which leads the team...Gardiner is second with 16 points while Dineen is third with nine points...Gardiner leads the team with 41 shots on the season...The Black Bears return to action on Sunday at Vermont with a 1 p.m. gametime.
New Hampshire (7-9, 2-1 America East) recorded its second consecutive conference win with a 2-1 victory against Vermont and then concluded its non-conference slate with a 3-2 overtime loss at 14th-ranked Boston College... Whitney Frates (Woodstock, Ontario/Kimball Union Academy) extended her point-scoring streak to seven games with a goal ? the game-winning tally ? against Vermont... Leah Boody (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury) has emerged as an offensive threat for the Wildcats in recent games; she has a point in three of the last four games, and with six points this season she has surpassed her combined total from her first two years... UNH has three 20-point scorers ? Sarah Craigue (Concord, N.H./Concord; 25 points), Frates (21) and Hayley Rausch (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park; 20) ? this year; the last time that happened was the 2000 season... Each of the last four games have been decided by one goal and the ?Cats are 2-2 in that span ... Ten of 18 games have ended in a one-goal margin and UNH has a 4-6 record in those games... UNH has a 1-4 mark in overtime games this year and that includes 0-3 against nationally-ranked teams... New Hampshire plays its final road game of the regular season Oct. 25 at Fairfield.
Vermont (8-7, 1-2 America East) went 1-1 on the week, falling at New Hampshire in an America East clash, 2-1 and then topping #18 Providence on the road 1-0 on Sunday... Junior Megan Maynard (Waterbury Center, Vt./Harwood) scored the Cats' lone goal against New Hampshire, as with 13:41 remaining in the contest she earned her team-high eighth goal of the season... Senior Kim Striegler (Whitney Point, N.Y./Whitney Point) had an assist on the goal... On Sunday senior Wendy Carbone (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) scored the only goal of the contest with 5:30 left in the first half for her second goal of the season... Junior Kristen Heavens (Harwinton, Conn./Lewis Mills) earned the win in goal for the Catamounts, making five saves for her first shutout of the season... The win marks the second straight season that Vermont has defeated a ranked Providence team, as last year the Cats won by the same 1-0 score as the Friars were #17 at the time... Vermont already defeated #15 Ohio State, 3-2 on the first day of the Sheraton Catamount Classic on September 13 of this season... Vermont's last three regular season contests will take place at home where the Cats have won their last eight straight... Vermont returns to action on Friday when the Catamounts host former America East rival Hofstra (1 p.m.). The Cats will also face Maine in a key league match-up on Sunday at home (1 p.m.). Admission is free to all Vermont field hockey home games.