CAMBRIDGE, Mass.- In what was a wild week in America East men's soccer, three players earned weekly honors for the week ending October 19. Albany's Shaun Kane (Stirlingshire, Scotland/St. Modans) and Maine's Alex Rickett (Northville, Mich./Northville) have been named Co-Players of the Week, while UMBC's Andrew Bulls (Millersville, Md./McDonogh) has been honored as Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this season.
Kane, a sophomore forward, scored a pair of goals to lead Albany to a 5-4 comeback victory over UMBC on Saturday. He scored his team’s first goal in the 14th minute and broke a 4-4 deadlock by heading home the game-winner at the 69:39 mark of the contest. Kane is tied for third in America East in points (17) and goals (7).
Rickett, A sophomore forward, scored both of his team’s goals in a 2-1 win at Stony Brook on Sunday. He headed home his first score at the 32:48 mark and then broke a 1-1 tie converting a breakaway opportunity with just 3:56 remaining in regulation. The win was Maine’s first league win of the season and first conference win on the road since Oct. 11, 1998.
Bulls, a freshman midfielder, scored two goals, his sixth and seventh of the year, in a pair of heartbreaking losses for the Retrievers last week. He gave the Retrievers a 1-0 lead at Virginia Tech on Tuesday before they fell 2-1 in overtime. Bulls, who is tied for third in America with seven goals and fourth with 16 points, gave his team a 3-2 advantage with a goal late in the first half against Albany before the Great Danes rallied for a 5-4 victory.
Boston University currently sits atop the league standings with 12 points, followed by Albany (10), Binghamton and Hartford (9), Vermont (7), New Hampshire and Maine (4) and UMBC and Stony Brook (1). The Terriers, who have won four straight, posted a 1-0 win at Maine on Wednesday and rallied from a one-goal deficit for a 2-1 win over UNH on Saturday. Albany claimed second place in the standings after scoring three unanswered goals in the second half against UMBC to rally from a 4-2 halftime deficit. Binghamton posted a pair of 1-0 victories over Hartford and Vermont last week. The Bearcats drew a record crowd of 2,534 fans at the Bearcats Sports Complex in a rematch of the 2007 America East championship game.
Team Notebooks
Albany (9-3-1, 3-1-1 America East) went unbeaten in America East Conference play this past week ... After playing Stony Brook to a scoreless tie on Oct. 15, the Great Danes erased a two-goal deficit in the second half to complete the greatest comeback in its Division I history in a 5-4 win over UMBC on Oct. 18 ... The Great Danes had never rallied from two goals down in the second half to win as a Division I program ... The five goals allowed was the most by a UMBC team since Maryland defeated the Retrievers by a 6-1 score back in 1998 ... It also marked the first time UMBC lost a match when scoring at least four goals in its Division I era which began in 1986 ... UAlbany’s nine wins is the most victories through 13 matches as a Division I program which has spanned 10 seasons ... Shaun Kane’s (Stirlinghire, Scotland/St. Modans) second goal against UMBC stood as the game winner ... Claudio Dantas (Orlando, Fla./Crystal Lake/Jefferson College) netted two goals against the Retrievers and matched the club’s Division I single season record for total points with 22 ... Nick Southworth accumulated 22 points back in 2000 ... Goalkeeper Steward Ceus (Rockland County, N.Y./North Rockland) recorded his 17th career shutout on Oct. 15 versus Stony Brook, matching the Division I school record held by Bouna Coundoul ... UAlbany visits Hartford on Oct. 22 at 7:30 p.m. and hosts Bryant on Oct. 25 at 1 p.m.
Binghamton (8-3-3, 3-1-0 America East) recorded its seventh and eighth shutouts of the season with 1-0 home wins over Hartford and Vermont respectively. The win over Vermont attracted the first-ever sellout crowd to the Bearcats Sports Complex (2,534). The old facility record of 2,078 fans was set on Nov. 17, 2007 at the America East finals, also against Vermont. In four home games this season, the Bearcats have averaged over 1,400 fans per game ... junior forward Cameron Keith (Aberdeenshire, Scotland/Aberdeenshire) scored his team-high fourth game-winning goal of the season. He now has seven for his career. Keith has a team-high five goals and 11 points this season, with two goals and five points coming against America East Conference opponents ... junior goalkeeper Jason Stenta (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley) recorded his 27th and 28th career shutouts this past week ... Binghamton continues to lead the America East Conference with a 0.55 goals against average. Stenta has played every minute this season and currently has a .896 save percentage.
Boston University (7-5-2, 4-1-0 America East) shut out Maine (1-0) and then defeated New Hampshire (2-1) on Saturday to sit atop the conference standings alone with 12 points ... Terriers have now won four straight games with three of them coming on the road ... They started the year 0-3-1 on the road before entering league play ... The Terriers last won at least three conference road games in one season back in 2001 when the team finished 9-1-1 in the league standings ... Junior Shaun Taylor (Sandown, England/Sandown) scored his seventh goal and third game-winner of the season to defeat Maine ... Both freshmen Stephen Knox (Aarima, Trinidad/Fatima College HS) and Ben Berube (Somerset, Mass./Somerset) earned an assist on the score ... Taylor then assisted on junior Samuel Appiah’s (Obuasi, Ghana/Univ. of Ghana) score to even the game with UNH before halftime ... Junior Richy Dorman recorded his first career goal in the 88th minute to give the Terriers the victory after receiving a well-placed cross from classmate Tom Strackhouse (Flemington, N.J./Pingrey School) ... The Wildcat goal at 27:06 in the first half snapped a three-game and 338 minute shutout streak ... Senior Hrafn Davidsson (Reykjavik, Iceland/University of Iceland) has four solo shutouts this season and two combined with junior Joe Cullaro (New York, N.Y./Clarkstown South) ... The victory over UNH was the team’s first since a 2-0 road win in 2004 ... Terriers next host Vermont on Wednesday (Oct. 22).
Hartford (7-4-2, 3-1-0 America East) suffered its first conference loss of the season, falling 1-0 to Binghamton on Wednesday in a face-off between two regionally ranked teams ... Binghamton entered the match ranked ninth, while Hartford rounded out the regional poll at the ten spot (NSCAA/adidas National and Regional Rankings) ... The Hawks and Bearcats finished virtually equal offensively and defensively, with each team taking 11 shots ... Freshman Patrick Boucher (Cromwell, Conn./Cromwell) led the Hawks with four shots, two of which were recorded as shots on goal .. Hartford goalkeeper Luke Citriniti (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) recorded four saves for Hartford, while allowing one goal ... In seven games of action, Citriniti has allowed just two goals, while leading the team and conference with a .905 save percentage and a 0.36 goals against average ... Hartford boasts a conference-leading 0.25 goals against average in America East conference play, allowing just one goal in four games ... The Hawks return to West Hartford on Wednesday, October 22 to host Albany as part of a double-header with the Hartford women’s team ... Hartford will then close out the home portion of their 2008 America East conference schedule against Stony Brook on Saturday, October 25 ... Hartford remains unbeaten at Al-Marzook Field, posting a record of 5-0-1 on their home turf.
Maine (4-7-2, 1-3-1 America East) picked up its first conference win of the season with a 2-1 victory over Stony Brook on Sunday afternoon... Alex Rickett (Northville, Mich./Northville HS) scored both of Maine’s goals, including the game-winning goal at 86:07... The game-winning goal was the second career game-winner for Rickett, who scored in overtime to beat UMass 1-0 to open the 2007 season... Maine has four wins on the season, the most since the 2004 season when the Black Bears finished with five... It is Maine’s first America East Conference win on the road since Oct. 11, 1998 when it beat Vermont 2-1 in Burlington, Vt... Maine has allowed one goal or less in eight of 13 games this season... Maine keeper Nemanja Kostic (New Belgrade, Serbia/Virginia Intermont) made a career-high 11 saves in Maine’s 2-1 loss to Boston University on Wednesday afternoon... His previous high for saves was seven set on numerous occasions.
UMBC (5-6-2, 0-3-1 America East) broke out of its scoring slump in a big way, but allowed the most goals in a game in a decade as the Retrievers fell at conference rival Albany, 5-4...the Retrievers’ winless streak reached five and its road winless streak was extended to nine...the five goals allowed by the Retrievers is the most since Maryland defeated the Retrievers, 6-1 in 1998 and the nine goals combined by both teams is the most since UMBC overwhelmed NJIT, 10-0 in 2004...a Retriever Division I team (1986) had never scored four goals and lost a game prior to Saturday’s result... UMBC had leads of 1-0, 2-1 and built a 4-2 halftime advantage before they succumbed in the second half... the Retrievers have been outscored 8-1 after halftime in its winless streak... Senior midfielder Shondell Busby (Toronto, Ont./Francis Marion) and sophomore forward B.J. Quigley (Essex, Md./Archbishop Curley) each scored their first goals of the season to stake UMBC to 1-0 and 2-1 advantages... freshman forward Andrew Bulls (Millersville, Md./McDonogh) scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season and sophomore midfielder John Paul Waraksa (Media, Pa./Strath Haven) posted his third within a two-minute span late in the first half to give UMBC a 4-2 lead after 45 minutes... Bulls gave UMBC a 1-0 lead in the 66th minute at Virginia Tech, but UMBC could not hold off the Hokies and fell 2-1 in overtime... senior goalkeeper Steve King (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) stopped a penalty kick, but the Hokies converted the rebound to tie the game in the 77th minute, before the hosts won less than two minutes into overtime... UMBC recorded a season-high 22 shots vs. Virginia Tech and outshot an opponent (22-20) for the first time this season... King made a career high 12 saves and moved into fifth place on UMBC’s all-time list... the Retrievers play their final two home games of the 2008 season this week as they host Binghamton on Wednesday and Boston University on Saturday.
New Hampshire (6-4-3, 1-3-1 America East) battled though 110 scoreless minutes at Vermont to earn a 0-0 tie with the Catamounts this past Wednesday... In the game, sophomore goalkeeper Colin O’Donnell (Springfield, Mass./Minnechaug Regional) notched five saves in what was his fourth shutout performance of the season... Senior midfielder Kyle Urso (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East), who tallied four shots in the game, had an opportunity to get the Wildcats on the board in the second half, but his shot from 25 yards out went wide of the goal...On Saturday, Joe Corsello (York, Maine/York) netted his first collegiate goal, but a tally by Boston University in the final minutes of regulation gave the Terriers the 2-1 edge and the win... The Wildcats got on the board first, taking advantage of a corner kick by Urso, who earned the assist on the score... the goal was the first against Terrier goalkeeper Hrafn Davidsson since Oct. 4, 2008, ending a three-game BU shutout streak... O’Donnell made five saves, including four in the first period, for the Wildcats... The Wildcats will travel to New York next week to face Stony Brook on Wednesday, Oct. 22 and Binghamton on Saturday, Oct. 25.
Stony Brook (2-11-2, 0-3-1 America East) snapped its pointless streak with a scoreless tie at Albany but fell to Maine during the week... Senior Dawid Ditrich (Gdansk, Poland/Academy of Physical Education and Sport) made seven in shutting down one of the nation’s top offenses in Albany... Junior James Palumbo (Carmel, N.Y./Mahopac) and freshman Jherrett Maroney (Cincinnatus, N.Y./Cincinnatus Central) each hit the post in scoring chances vs. Albany... The Seawolves did pick up a point, snapping their pointless streak at eight games... Stony Brook fell to Maine, 2-1 at home on Sunday afternoon... Palumbo tied the score at one after putting one home in the 57th minute... Palumbo scored his second goal of the season but Maine scored in the 87th minute to win it... Maroney had two shots both coming in the final minutes of the game but to no avail... Stony Brook hosts New Hampshire on Wednesday and travels to Hartford for a tilt on Saturday.
Vermont (6-3-5, 2-1-1 America East) tied New Hampshire, 0-0, in double overtime Wednesday at Centennial Field and saw its six-game unbeaten streak (3-0-3) come to an end in a 1-0 loss at Binghamton Saturday ... Goalkeeper Roger Scully (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) recorded his sixth shutout of the season Wednesday and the 23rd of his career, second all-time at Vermont ... Former All-American keeper Jim St. Andre is the program’s all-time leader with 42 clean sheets from 1986 to 1989 ... Scully has backboned a stingy Vermont defense that has allowed just five goals in its last 14 matches against America East foes dating back to the start of the 2007 conference schedule ... The Catamounts are at Boston University Wednesday night and host Maine at Centennial Field on Saturday ... Vermont’s seniors, Jordan Crasilneck (Eugene, Ore./Sheldon), Will Haywood (Newton, Mass./Newton North), Lee Stephane Kouadio (Woodlyn, Pa./Ridley), Jake McFadden (Colchester, Vt./Colchester), Roger Scully and Connor Tobin (Fort Collins, Colo./Fort Collins) will be honored prior to the match with the Black Bears.