CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Boston University's Farrell McClernon (West Chester, Pa./Merion Mercy) and Vermont's Lexi Kaknes (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles) have been named America East women's soccer Co-Players of the Week after each led their respective team to key wins last week. Stony Brook's Colleen McKenna was named Rookie of the Week for the week ending October 19.
McClernon, a junior forward, powered Boston U. to a pair of wins last week, which clinched the Terriers at least a share a of the America East regular season title and the top seed for the upcoming championship. McClernon scored the lone goal in Boston U’s pivotal 1-0 win over New Hampshire on Thursday and added an assist in her team’s 2-0 victory over Stony Brook on Sunday. This marks the sixth time in nine seasons the Terriers have captured the regular-season crown.
Kaknes, a senior midfielder/forward, tallied five points as Vermont earned its first America East win of the season, a 5-0 decision over UMBC on Thursday. The goals, her first and second of the year, both came off rebounds. Vermont’s five goals are the most in a conference game since 2005, as is the five-goal margin of victory.
McKenna, freshman forward scored the Seawolves’ first goal, just 2:32 into the game, in a 3-2 win over Albany on Thursday. McKenna leads her team and ranks sixth in America East in goals (5) and is tied for seventh in points (11). The Rookie of the Week honor is her second of the season.
On top of Boston U. clinching the top seed for the America East Women's Soccer Championship, which kicks off Thursday, Oct. 30, New Hampshire, Hartford and Stony Brook have all secured bids for the tournament. With a win over Maine on Thursday, New Hampshire can secure the second seed and a bye in the quarterfinal round. The other five teams- Maine (8 points), Binghamton (6), Vermont (4), Albany (3) and UMBC (3)- all remain alive for the final two playoff spots.
Team Notebooks
Albany (3-15, 1-5 America East) dropped both of its America East Conference matches this past week ... After falling to Stony Brook, 3-2, on Oct. 16, the Great Danes suffered a 1-0 overtime loss at Binghamton on Oct. 19 ... The Great Danes have lost five matches by a 1-0 decision, and seven of their 15 losses came by one goal ... Junior Ashley Tirabassi (Cambridge, Ontario/Monsignor Doyle) recorded her first career multi-goal game against Stony Brook ... Freshmen Kendra Harrell-Vigil (Avondale, Ariz./Westview), Annika Hanson (Seattle, Wash./Seattle Prep), Jenna Burke (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) and Katie Norwood (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) have started every match on defense for the Great Danes ... Junior midfielder Jaclyn Rosada (Wyckoff, N.J./Ramapo) is the only other player to start every match, and she has not missed a start in her career which spans 55 matches ...Burke recorded her first career point when she assisted on Tirabassi’s second goal against Stony Brook ... UAlbany still has a chance to qualify for the America East Tournament for the first time in school history if it can win its two matches this week and can get some help from around the league ... The Great Danes, which can finish as high as fifth and as low as ninth in the standings, host Vermont on Oct. 23 at 3 p.m. and UMBC on Oct. 26 at 1 p.m.
Binghamton (6-7-1, 2-4 America East) split a pair of conference games on the week, losing at Hartford 3-1 before edging Albany 1-0 in overtime... The Bearcats hold down the sixth and final playoff position with two games remaining. Binghamton has advanced to the America East tournament four straight years... In a pivotal game against the Great Danes, sophomore midfielder Casey Pedersen (Northville,Mich./Northville) scored the game-winner 3:02 into the first overtime period. Pedersen, who has two goals in the last three games, drilled a 30-yard shot to the top netting after collecting a loose ball in the middle of the field... Junior keeper Jen McEachron (Hoosick Falls, N.Y./Hoosick Falls) made six saves, including several stellar stops in the first half. She notched her fifth shutout of the season... Earlier in the week, junior midfielder Amanda Casares (Rahway, N.J./Rahway) scored an unassisted first-half goal at Hartford before the Hawks responded with three goals in the second half.
Boston University (11-5-1, 6-0-0 America East) clinched a share of the regular-season crown on Sunday afternoon with a 2-0 win over Stony Brook at Nickerson Field and a Hartford loss ... In a battle for first place, Boston U. claimed a crucial 1-0 victory over New Hampshire on Thursday, backed by a goal from junior Farrell McClernon in the 72nd minute of the match ... On Sunday, the Terriers forced Stony Brook goalkeeper Marisa Viola to make a season-high 14 saves ? including two on penalty kicks ? in a 2-0 BU win ... Sophomore Mara Osher netted the game-winner and senior Marisha Schumacher-Hodge provided a two-goal cushion in the final regular-season home game at Nickerson for 2008.
Hartford (7-5-4, 4-2-1 America East) split games with Binghamton and New Hampshire last week. The Hawks improved to 4-1-2 overall at home with a 3-1 victory over the Bearcats on Thursday, scoring three goals in the second half to clinch a spot in the upcoming America East Championship. Senior Lauren Aldred (Manchester, England/Oklahoma Baptist University) scored two goals, including the game winner, as Hartford picked up the three points in the standings... Against New Hampshire on Sunday, the Hawks had a 1-0 lead late in the second half but let it slip away. The Wildcats scored two goals in the final 17 minutes--including the game-winning goal with 80 seconds to play--to snap Hartford’s five-game unbeaten streak. Senior Brittany Black (East Meadow, N.Y./East Meadow) scored her first goal of the season in the defeat... Aldred leads the team in scoring with eight goals for 16 points... Hartford wraps up regular season play this week with home dates against Bryant and Boston University. The Hawks will honor their five seniors prior to the season finale against the Terriers.
Maine (5-4-6, 2-2-2 America East) fell at Harvard 4-1 before tying Vermont 1-1 on Sunday...At Harvard, Kelsey Wilson (Gorham, Maine/Gorham) notched the goal for the Black Bears off an assist from Christine LaBelle (Nepean, Ontario/Mother Teresa)...Jasmine Phillips (Nepean, Ontario/Merivale) had five saves in net...Maine was outshot 15-12 in the match...On Sunday in Orono, Maine outshot Vermont by a 25-7 margin, but could notch only one goal...Freshman Carolyne Nellis (Quebec City, Quebec/FX Garneau) notched her second goal of the season...Wilson had an assist on the goal...Veronique Fleury (Montreal, Quebec/College Saint Sacrement) had seven shots...The Black Bears had 10 corner kicks to the Catamounts’ one...Phillips made three saves in net...It was Maine’s eighth double overtime game of the season...The six ties Maine has this season are double the previous most in team history...LaBelle leads the team with nine points this season, followed by Nellis with seven...Maine plays Hampshire on Thursday, and it will be Senior Day for Phillips, LaBelle and Kim Stephenson (Hampden, Maine/Hampden)...During their tenure at Maine, they te
UMBC (2-15-0, 1-5-0 America East) dropped a pair of games last week... The Retrievers fell at America East rival Vermont, 5-0, on Oct. 16, then dropped their final non-conference game at Navy, 2-0, on Oct. 19... Senior goalie Christine Bacinski (Hampstead, Md./Mount de Sales) made one save against the Catamounts... Making her first start in a month, freshman goalie Mo Van Vlerah (Boyds, Md./Northwest) stopped five shots against the Mids... The Retrievers took 14 shots on the week, with freshman forward Jenna Quaranta (Baltimore, Md./John Carroll) taking a team-best four... Sophomore midfielder Morgan Warrington (Magnolia, Del./St. Thomas Moore Prep) leads the Retrievers with three goals, six points and 30 shots on the season... Warrington’s three goals equal her total from her 2007 rookie campaign... The Retrievers conclude their season this week with their final home game on Oct. 23 against defending America East champion Boston University, then hit the road to take on conference foe Albany on Oct. 26.
New Hampshire (6-9-1, 5-2-0) went 1-1-0 last week, getting narrowly edged on the road by first-place Boston University, 1-0, and rallying past Hartford at home, 2-1, to gain sole possession of second place in the conference ... senior forward Michelle Sheehan (Belmont, Mass./Belmont) tallied a goal and an assist to lift the Wildcats past Hartford ... Sheehan netted the equalizer in the 78th minute and then used a beautiful feed to set up the game-winner in the 89th minute ... Sheehan now has six goals in just nine games ... senior forward Sara Hourihan (Lynnfield, Mass./Lynnfield) tallied the game-winner, taking a perfect pass from Sheehan off a give-and-go and threading the ball in between the goalkeeper and the right post as she fell down ... Hourihan leads the team in goals (7) and points (16) and is now tied for the team lead in game-winning goals (2) ... Hourihan moved into a fifth-place tie with Jackie Wishoski on UNH’s all-time goals (26) and points (58) list ... senior midfielder Caitlin Whelan (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) collected an assist on Sheehan’s equalizer ... senior goalkeeper Nikki Golding (Milton, Mass./Milton) made eight saves against Boston University, but was handed the first America East loss of her career ... Golding then stopped four shots versus Hartford to improve to 4-4-1 on the season, including 4-1-0 in the conference ... Golding is 8-1-0 all-time versus America East foes ... UNH leads the conference in goals (24), assists (24) and points (72) ... the Wildcats wrap up their regular season on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 3 p.m. when they head north to take on Maine.
Stony Brook (8-7-0, 4-2-0 America East) split a pair of games this week, defeating Albany 3-2 on Thursday before falling to first-place Boston University, 2-0, on Sunday afternoon ... senior Trine Allenberg scored the game-winning goal against Albany with just 4:03 remaining ... it was the career-high fourth goal of the season for Allenberg who also leads the Seawolves with three game-winning scores ... freshman Colleen McKenna scored her team-best fifth goal just 2:27 into the game ... freshman Holly Razzaghi recorded two assists in the victory over Albany ... the Seawolves now have 15 goals on the season, equaling their total from all of last season ... SBU dropped its second game of the weekend, a 2-0 loss to Boston University ... junior Marisa Viola was spectacular in net, making a career-high 14 saves ... Viola also stopped BU penalty kicks ... SBU now has eight victories on the season and will record its most wins since 1994 with another win ... the Seawolves had 12 wins in 1994 ... Stony Brook will take on Binghamton on Thursday before celebrating Senior Day on Sunday with a match against Maine ... the Seawolves lost to Maine, 1-0, in last seasons regular season finale before defeating the Black Bears, 2-1, in the America East quarterfinals.
Vermont (3-12-1, 1-4-1 America East) went unbeaten on the week ... The Catamounts picked up their first league win of the year with a 5-0 shutout of UMBC ... Vermont’s five goals are the most scored by an America East team in a conference game since Hartford beat UMBC 5-0 on Oct. 15, 2006. The five-goal margin of victory is also the largest since that game ... Senior midfielder Lexie Kaknes (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles) collected five points in the game on two goals and an assist ... UVM also posted a 1-1 tie in double overtime at Maine ... Junior midfielder Carson Laderoute (Rutland, Vt./Rutland) scored her team-leading fifth goal of the year for Vermont ... Junior goalkeeper Eliza Bradley (Charlotte, Vt./Champlain Valley Union) made 11 saves, marking the fifth time this season she has posted double-digit stops ... Vermont is still in the hunt for a playoff spot as it enters the final week of the regular season ... The Catamounts travel to Albany on Thursday (Oct. 23) then host Binghamton on Sunday (Oct. 26) in the regular season finale.am has a record of 36-22-13 thus far...Maine’s last regular season game is on Sunday at Stony Brook at 12 p.m.