CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- University at Albany's Don Johnson (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) and University of Hartford's Patrick Boucher (Cromwell, Conn./Cromwell) each scored game-winning goals to get their respective team off to a 1-0 start in conference play and have been named America East men's soccer weekly award winners for October 6 as a result. Johnson, a senior midfielder/forward, garnered Player of the Week recognition, while Boucher, a freshman forward/midfielder, took home Rookie of the Week accolades.
Johnson scored twice in Albany’s 3-0 win at Boston University in the league opener for both teams on Saturday. Johnson, who was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week, helped the Great Danes improve to 7-2 this season, their best start in 10 seasons as a Division I program. The win also snapped the Terriers’ six-game home unbeaten streak against league opponents that dated back to October 14, 2006.
Boucher scored the lone goal in the Hawks’ 1-0 win over New Hampshire in the conference opener for both teams on Saturday. The goal, Boucher’s second of his career, came in the 42nd minutes He is second on Hartford with five points this season. The win was the Hawks’ fourth in their last five outings and they remained a perfect 4-0-1 at Al Marzook Field.
In other America East action over the weekend, Vermont snapped a four-game winless streak with a 5-1 over Stony Brook. Jordan Crasilneck (Eugene, Ore./Sheldon) tallied five points on a goal and three assists. T.J. Gore (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) and Jake McFadden (Colchester, Vt./Colchester) each scored twich for the Catamounts. Maine and UMBC played to a scoreless tie in Orono. UMBC goalkeeper Steve King (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) made three saves to record his 21st career shutout, while Maine's Nemanja Kostic (New Belgrade, Serbia/Virginia Intermont) stopped eight shots in just over 108 minutes of play.
Team Notebooks
Albany (7-2-0, 1-0-0 America East) extended its winning streak to four matches after beating Boston University, 3-0, on Oct. 4 ... It marked the first time BU lost to a league opponent at home since the Great Danes pulled out a 1-0 win against the Terriers in overtime on Oct. 14, 2006 ... The Terriers outshot the Great Danes 22-6, but UAlbany goalkeeper Steward Ceus (Rockland County, N.Y./North Rockland) made eight saves to earn his third shutout of the season and the 15th of his career ... UAlbany is 7-0-1 in America East Conference openers ... The team’s seven wins is the most victories through nine matches in the program’s Division I era which began in 1999 ... UAlbany’s seven wins and 23 goals more than doubles their totals from a year ago ... The Great Danes have outscored their opponents, 15-1, during their four-game winning streak, and the defense has surrendered just two goals in the seven victories ... Don Johnson (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) scored two goals in the same match for the first time in his career ... Despite scoring just 0.65 goals per game last season, UAlbany entered the week ranked fifth in the nation in goals per game, averaging 2.50 ... Gaby Seguin-Gauthier (Chateauguay, Quebec/College Francais/Champlain) entered the week ranked seventh in the nation with 0.63 assists per game ... UAlbany, which averages a league-best 2.56 goals per game, hosts Binghamton, which allows a league-low 0.60 goals per game, at 3 p.m. on Oct. 8 ... The Great Danes also visit New Hampshire on Oct. 11 at 5 p.m.
Binghamton (5-1-3, 0-0-0 America East) received votes in both the NSCAA/adidas and College Soccer News weekly poll on Sept. 29 ... the Bearcats, who have not played since Sept. 30, continue to rank first in the America East Conference in goals against average (0.56). Binghamton has shutout five of its last seven opponents.
Boston University (3-5-2, 0-1-0 America East) was shut out for the fifth time this season after losing to Albany, 3-0, this past Saturday ... The loss snapped a four-game unbeaten streak at home that included wins over Harvard, Colgate and Rhode Island along with a draw against Brown ... The Terriers scored 13 goals during that span before falling to the Great Danes ... Ranked second in the league in goals, the offense has outscored opponents, 16-13, through 10 games ... Junior Shaun Taylor (Sandown, England/Sandown) recorded two of them against the Crimson ... His six goals and 13 total points lead the Terriers and are tied for second and third, respectively, in the AE ... Three other Terriers scored against Harvard, giving the team a total of 10 players now with at least one goal ... Sophomore Aaron O’Neal (Virginia Beach, Va./Kellam) leads the team in assists with four, which is tied for fourth in the league ... Senior Hrafn Davidsson (Reykjavik, Iceland/University of Iceland) is seventh in the conference with a 1.28 goals against average ... Terriers are currently 0-3-1 on the road ... Will face Stony Brook in their first AE road game of the year on Wednesday ... Then host Binghamton on Saturday.
Hartford (5-3-2, 1-0-0 America East) opened America East conference play at home on Saturday evening, recording a 1-0 win over New Hampshire in the lone game of the week for the Hawks ... Freshman Patrick Boucher (Cromwell, Conn./Cromwell) scored the lone goal with the game-winning tally coming in the 42nd minute of the match ... The goal was the second of Boucher’s career ... He is second on the team in scoring with five points ... Junior Carlos Villa (Las Conchas, Guatemala/Arrayanes/San Jacinto College) was credited with the assist ... Villa leads the Hawks and the America East conference in scoring, with nine goals (0.90 gpg) and 20 points (2.00 ppg) ... In just 10 games, Villa has outscored last season’s team-leader Andreas Blamo, who finished the 2007 season with six goals and four assists for 16 points ... Freshman Luke Citriniti (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) made his second collegiate start in goal, tallying three saves on the evening for his first complete shutout of his career ... He now has nine saves on the season and improves to 2-1, with a 0.900 save percentage ... Defensively, Hartford has not surrendered a goal in its five wins ... Hartford’s last three games have been decided by a single goal ... The Hawks remain unbeaten at home, boasting a 4-0-1 record at Al-Marzook Field ... Hartford travels to Baltimore to face UMBC Wednesday afternoon, and returns home to face Maine on Saturday evening.
Maine (3-4-2, 0-0-1 America East) battled to a 0-0 double overtime scoreless tie with UMBC on Saturday afternoon in Orono... It was the third straight shutout for the Black Bears... The Black Bears had a great chance to win the game in the second overtime when junior Jordan Antonucci (Gloversville, N.Y./Gloversville HS) had a shot that the UMBC keeper was just able to deflect... Maine has not allowed a goal in 313:31... Maine has four shutouts on the season, the most since the 1997 season when the Black Bears posted four shutouts as well... Maine’s Nikola Bogdanovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Oral Roberts) was named Maine’s Man of the Match on Saturday... Maine is 1-0-2 at home this season... In the past two years, the Black Bears are 4-2-3 at home... Maine has allowed 10 goals in nine games this season... A year ago, the Black Bears had allowed 23 goals in the first nine games of the season... The Black Bears now hit the road for a pair of America East Conference games at New Hampshire and at Hartford.
UMBC ( 5-2-2, 0-0-1 America East) managed to get a key point on the road as they played host Maine to a 0-0 double overtime tie in chilly, blustery conditions at Alumni Field...The game was the America East opener for both squads as UMBC’s record moved to 5-2-2 and 0-0-1 in league play...The Retrievers are now unbeaten in three straight games...The Retrievers registered 11 second half shots vs. Maine, but could not dent the net... In the 72nd minute, sophomore back Chris Williams (Parkville, Md./Calvert Hall) headed a serve off an indirect kick, but his attempt hit the underside of the crossbar... Senior goalkeeper Steve King (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) recorded three saves to post his 21st career shutout and needs three more shutouts to take over the all-time lead in school history...The Retrievers lead the series with Maine, 4-1-1, and are unbeaten in five straight vs. the Black Bears... However, the Retrievers’ road winless streak in America East play was extended to five straight... UMBC’s last eight games have been decided by a single goal or has gone the distance to a draw... The Retrievers have not outshot a single opponent this season...UMBC has a pair of league home games next week, starting with Wednesday’s match-up with Hartford. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. at UMBC Soccer Stadium...UMBC is 14-2-5 in five years of America East Conference play at home and is unbeaten in its last six (4-0-2) since a loss to Binghamton in 2006.
New Hampshire (5-2-2, 0-1-0 America East), the No. 10 regionally-ranked squad (NSCAA/adidas Regional Rankings) dropped the America East opener, 1-0, at Hartford this past Saturday.... Sophomore goalkeeper Colin O’Donnell (Springfield, Mass./Minnechaug Regional) allowed just one goal in the game, but it turned out to be the game-winner for the Hawks... Kyle Urso (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East) tallied three shots in the game, including two on net... The loss marked the Wildcats’ first shutout loss in America East regular-season play since Sept. 26, 2006 when they fell to Binghamton, 1-0, and marks the first loss against the Hawks since Oct. 12, 2003 and had the same 1-0 result... Junior forward Chris Banks (Westborough, Mass./Westborough) leads the league in shots, averaging three per game... The Wildcats play host to Maine on Wednesday, Oct. 11 and will then welcome Albany on Saturday, Oct. 11.
Stony Brook (2-9-1, 0-1-0 America East) lost both of its games last week... The Seawolves fell 5-0 to #22 Duke, Wednesday night... Freshman Jherrett Maroney (Cincinnatus, N.Y./Cincinnatus Central) had the only shot on goal for Stony Brook... The Seawolves opened up America East play with a 5-1 loss to Vermont... Sophomore Mark Secko (Shoreham, N.Y./St. Anthony’s) scored Stony Brook’s goal in the 66th minute... A home game against Boston University is the Seawolves’ only game this week.. Kick-off is slated for 7 p.m.
Vermont (4-2-4, 1-0-0 America East) rolled past Stony Brook, 5-1, Saturday in the conference opener for both teams ... The victory snapped a four-game winless streak (0-2-2) ... The five goal outburst for the Catamounts were the most goals in a game over the last 117 contests. UVM last scored five times topping Siena, 5-2, on October 2, 2002 ... Jordan Crasilneck (Eugene, Ore./Sheldon) scored once and had three assists in the win over the Seawolves. His three assists tied the Vermont single-game record set by three other Catamounts ... The conference leader with eight assists in 10 games, Crasilneck has factored in 10 of Vermont’s 13 goals ... T.J. Gore (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) and Jake McFadden (Colchester, Vt./Colchester) each scored twice Saturday ... A senior back who did not register a point his first three seasons, McFadden leads the Cats with four goals ... Gore opened the scoring just 1:59 into the match and scored his second, the eventual game-winner, in the 27th minute ... Vermont has now scored four times this season within the first 10 minutes of a game ... The Catamounts host longtime rival Dartmouth Wednesday in a rematch of last season’s thrilling NCAA Tournament First Round match won by UVM in the penalty kick round ... Vermont resumes conference play at UMBC Saturday.