CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Stony Brook, which is in the midst of a four-game winnings streak in women's soccer, swept the final weekly awards of 2008 after posting two wins and earning the No. 2 seed for the upcoming America East Championship. Senior Brooke Barbuto (Syracuse, N.Y./Corcoran) was tabbed Player of the Week for the second time this season, while freshman Colleen McKenna (Manorville, N.Y./Eastport South Manor) earned Rookie of the Week honors for the third time.
Barbuto racked up nine points in two Stony Brook wins last week. Barbuto scored the tying goal against Binghamton on Wednesday and then assisted on the game winner. A senior midfielder, Barbuto tallied assists on the first two goals against Maine and converted a penalty kick for her fifth goal of the season on Sunday. The wins gave Stony Brook 10 wins for the first time since 1994 and six America East wins for the first time since joining the league in 2001.
McKenna (Manorville, N.Y./Eastport South Manor) earned her second straight Rookie of the Week award as she tallied 11 points in just two games last week. A freshman forward, McKenna scored scored the Seawolves’ first goal, just 2:32 into the game, in a 3-2 win over Albany on Thursday. A freshman forward, McKenna scored the game winner against Binghamton on Thursday with just 5:51 remaining. She added two more scores and an assist in the Seawolves’ 5-0 win over Maine on Sunday.
In the Women's Soccer Championship, No. 3 seeded New Hampshire (6-10-1, 5-3-0) will host No. 6 seed Binghamton (7-8-1, 3-5-0) on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in one quarterfinal matchup. Fourth-seeded Hartford (8-5-4, 4-3-1) hosts No. 5 seed Maine (6-5-6, 3-3-2) at 6 p.m. in the other quarterfinal contest. Semifinal action with take place on Sunday, November 2 with the winner of New Hampshire and Binghamton traveling to No. 2 seed Stony Brook (10-7-0, 6-2-0) for a 6 p.m. contest. The winner of Hartford and Maine will go to No. 1 seed Boston University (13-5-1, 8-0-0 ) for a 1 p.m. start. The championship game will be played on Saturday, Nov. 8 or Sunday, Nov. 9 at the highest remaining seed.
Team Notebooks
Albany (3-17-0, 1-7-0 America East) ended its season on a six-game slide after taking losses to Vermont, 2-1, on Oct. 23 and UMBC by a 4-3 score on Oct. 26 ... The Great Danes lost five matches this season by a 1-0 decision, and nine of their 17 losses came by one goal ... Freshmen Rebecca Lee (Selkirk, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) and Katie Grant (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia/Auburn Drive) recorded two goals each in the two matches this week ... Junior Ashley Tirabassi (Cambridge, Ontario/Monsignor Doyle) finished the season first on the team in goals and points... Her six goals and three assists for 15 points were career highs ... Lee finished the season with five goals, a team-high four assists and 14 points ... The Great Danes will return nine of their 11 starters next season, including all of their goal scoring, 98.1 percent of their point production and the entire starting line of defenders ... Freshmen Kendra Harrell-Vigil (Avondale, Ariz./Westview), Katie Norwood (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) and Annika Hanson (Seattle, Wash./Seattle Prep) started every match on defense this season, while redshirt freshman Jenna Burke (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) started every match except Sunday’s loss to UMBC ... The team graduates four-year letterwinners Diana Barrera (Wheaton, Md./Albert Einstein) and Danielle Ethier (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central), who also served as co-captains, as well as goalkeeper Amber Maisonet (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy).
Binghamton (7-8-1, 3-5 America East) split a pair of conference games on the week, but the win was enough to seize the program’s fifth consecutive America East tournament berth. Needing a victory at Vermont on Sunday, the Bearcats outshot the Catamounts 15-2 and finally produced the game’s lone goal 39 seconds into overtime. Binghamton grabbed the No. 6 seed and will travel to face No. 3 New Hampshire in a quarterfinal game Thursday afternoon. The Wildcats beat Binghamton3-2 in Vestal during the regular season... Binghamton beat the three teams below it in the standings and lost to the five above for the team’s 3-5 conference mark... Sophomore Dani Raske (River Vale,N.J./Pascack) was the hero at Vermont, scoring her seventh goal of the season - third game-winner - early in the first overtime period. Raske, who is splitting time between the back line and forward positions, knocked in her second try at a rebound on an original shot from junior midfielder Amanda Casares (Rahway, N.J./Rahway)... Junior keeper Jen McEachron (Hoosick Falls, N.Y./Hoosick Falls) needed to make just two saves to earn her sixth shutout of the season... Earlier in the week, Binghamton twice held one-goal leads before succumbing to host Stony Brook 3-2... Senior forward Charlotte Foster (Rochester, N.Y./Pittsford-Sutherland) scored her third goal of the season and freshman forward Mary DeWitte (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield) added her first collegiate score.
Boston University (13-5-1, 8-0-0 America East) went 2-0 last week as it completed the first undefeated and untied conference season in eight years in the America East. Junior Casey Brown (Natick, Mass./Natick) netted the crucial game-winner at Hartford as the two teams battled into overtime. Her goal came with 12 seconds remaining in the second overtime period off a corner kick from senior Marisha Schumacher-Hodge (Pittsburgh, Pa./Schenley). The Terriers tied a program record for seven consecutive wins and extend their unbeaten streak to 10 games. Freshman Annie Tooley (Denver, Colo./Mullen) made her first collegiate start and made three saves to earn her first collegiate shutout. In action earlier in the week, BU defeated UMBC, 2-1, with goals from Schumacher-Hodge and sophomore Corie Halasz (Milford, Conn/Laurelton Hall). BU will host its America East Women’s Soccer Championship semifinal game on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. at Nickerson Field.
Hartford (8-6-4, 4-3-1 America East) split a pair of home games last week to wrap up the regular season. The Hawks defeated Bryant University by a 3-0 final on Wednesday before dropping a 1-0 final in double overtime against Boston University on Sunday... Freshman Breeanna Robinson (East Hampstead, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) scored two goals to lead the Hawks in the win over Bryant. It marked her third multi-goal game of the season, and she ranks second on the team in scoring with six goals and one assist for 13 points. Classmate Lauren Brodeur (Wilbraham, Mass./Wilbraham & Monson Acad.) recorded her sixth shutout in goal by making four saves), and junior Laura Guigli (North Stonington, Conn./Wheeler) also tacked on a goal... The loss to BU came with 12 seconds remaining in the second overtime. Brodeur gave up the goal after making a spectacular saves just seconds before, tipping a shot over the crossbar to preserve the tie. The Terriers then rushed to take the corner kick and scored to pull out the win... Hartford finished fourth in the regular season standings and will host fifth-seeded Maine in the quarterfinals of the America East Championship on Thursday, October 30 at 6 p.m. The Hawks and Black Bears played to a scoreless draw earlier this season in Orono, Maine.
Maine (6-5-6, 3-3-2 America East) defeated New Hampshire on Thursday by the score of 1-0...The game was Senior Day for Kim Stephenson (Hampden, Maine/Hampden), Christine LaBelle (Nepean, Ontario/Mother Teresa) and Jasmine Phillips (Nepean, Ontario/Merivale)...The win clinched the Black Bears a spot in the America East tournament for the sixth consecutive season...LaBelle had the game-winner in the 32nd minute on a 25 yard shots that went into the top-left corner...Phillips made three saves and had her eighth shutout of the season and 35th of her career...LaBelle had six shots in the game...Maine fell at Stony Brook by the score of 5-0 on Sunday...LaBelle had four shots, including three on net...Maine outshot the Seawolves by a 13-to-12 count...LaBelle finishes the regular season as the team’s leading scorer with five goals and an assist for 11 points...She also led the team with 39 shots...Freshman Carolyne Nellis (Quebec City, Quebec/FX Garneau) is second on the team with seven points...The Black Bears return to action on Thursday at Hartford at 6 p.m. in the America East tournament.
UMBC (3-16-0, 2-6-0 America East) split its final two games of the season, falling to America East rival Boston University, 2-1, in the final home game on Oct. 23, then defeating conference foe Albany, 4-3, on Oct. 26... The win over the Great Danes snapped the Retrievers’ month-long seven-game losing streak... Senior goalie Christine Bacinski (Hampstead, Md./Mount de Sales) combined for 14 saves on the week, with seven stops in each game... Freshman forward Brooke Piper (London, Ontario/A.B. Lucas) scored the Retrievers’ lone goal against the Terriers, heading in a pass from sophomore forward Morgan Warrington (Magnolia, Del./St. Thomas Moore Prep) in the 81st minute for her first career tally... Warrington scored twice against the Great Danes, and her second goal was the game-winner... She became the first Retriever to score multiple goals in a game since September 2007... Piper also tallied her second goal in as many games, knotting the score at 3-3 in the 67th minute... Junior midfielder JoAnne Jackson (Portland, Ore./Lincoln), sophomore midfielder Sandra Vacarino (Mantua, N.J./Clearview Regional) and freshman midfielder Danielle Kell (Willards, Md./Parkside) were all credited with assists against the Great Danes... Prior to the season finale, the Retrievers had not scored more than one goal in a game all season, and the four tallies were the most in a single match since scoring four against Howard in September 2006... UMBC’s 18 shots against Albany were also a season high... Warrington finishes the season with a team-best five goals, 11 points and 42 shots.
New Hampshire (6-10-1, 5-3-0 America East) went 0-1-0 last week, getting edged 1-0 by Maine to close out the regular season ... senior goalkeeper Nikki Golding (Milton, Mass./Milton) made three saves, while junior Ally Yost (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy), who replaced Golding to start the second half, recorded two stops ... the Wildcats are the third seed in the America East tournament and will play host to No. 6 Binghamton on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in the quarterfinal round ... UNH will make its eighth straight appearance in the tournament, the longest active streak in the conference ... the Wildcats have made it to the semifinal round of the tournament in each of the last six seasons.
Stony Brook (10-7-0, 6-2-0 America East) defeated Binghamton and Maine this week to secure second place in the America East and a first-round bye in next week’s America East tournament ... The Seawolves rallied for a thrilling 3-2 victory over Binghamton on Thursday night as freshman Colleen McKenna scored the game-winning goal with 5:51 remaining ... Senior Brooke Barbuto tied the game at 2 in the 70th minutes, burying a shot from 30 yards out in the upper left-corner of the net ... SBU then came back to defeat Maine, 5-0, in their regular season finale on Sunday afternoon ... McKenna notched the game-winner just 5:17 into the game and finished the game with two goals and an assist ... Junior Kate Collins also scored two goals for the Seawolves and Barbuto added a goal to go along with two assists ... The victory over Maine was the Seawolves 10th of the seasons, its most victories since 1994 ... the six conference wins is also a program record ... The Seawolves scored 23 goals during the 2008 regular season after scoring 12 in 2007 ... McKenna finished the regular season with a team-high eight goals and 19 points ... Barbuto finished the season with five goals, one off a career-high, and a team-best six assists.
Vermont (4-13-1, 2-5-1 America East) split on the week to close out its season. The Catamounts earned a 2-1 victory at Albany. Freshman Emily Perrin (Charlottesville, Va./Charlottesville) scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 23rd minute and UVM was able to hang on for the win. Vermont had its playoff hopes dashed with a 1-0 overtime loss to Binghamton in the regular season finale. The Bearcats scored the game-winning goal 39 seconds into overtime. Vermont made a run at the end of the regular season to close out the year going 2-1-1 in its last four games. The Catamounts managed to score just six goals in the first 13 games of the year, but came alive in the last five, scoring 10 goals. Junior Carson Laderoute (Rutland, Vt./Rutland) finishes the year leading UVM in points (10) and goals (5) for the third straight season. She is the first player since Meg Mattes (1997, 1998, 1999) to lead the team in points and goals three consecutive years.