CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Fairfield University senior Molly Byrnes (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) and Boston University freshman Giovanna Monaco (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) received the America East field hockey player and rookie of the week, respectively, after each scored game-winning goals during the first weekend of conference play. Both the Stags and the Terriers won their America East games by one goal last week.View complete weekly release in PDF.
Byrnes scored both Fairfield goals last week, the second of which resulted in a 1-0 win over the University of Vermont on Saturday. The win over the Catamounts gave Fairfield its first-ever win in America East action since joining as an associate member prior to last season. Byrnes scored in the 40th minute against Vermont, as she controlled a rebound and pushed the ball past the goalkeeper. Her goal against Brown tied the game in the first half before the Stags dropped a 2-1 decision.
Monaco tallied two goals, including the gamewinner in the 61st minute to lead the Terriers to a 3-2 come-from-behind victory in their conference opener at New Hampshire. After UNH took a 2-0 lead in the 22nd minute, Monaco got the Terriers on the board at 24:05 to make it a 2-1 game at the half. With the game deadlocked at two-all, Monaco sent home a rebound at 60:12 to lead Boston U. to the win.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (6-7 overall, 1-0 America East) split two games last week, falling to #2 Syracuse, 3-1, before kicking off America East Conference play with a 3-1 victory over Maine... Senior midfielder Michelle Simpson (Middlebrough, England/University of Teesside) scored one goal in each game for the Great Danes to bring her season total to five... Senior defender Ashley Carr (Hilderstone, England/Newcastle-Under-Lyme) and sophomore forward Sarah Deane (Orefield, Pa./Parkland) both scored their first career goals against Maine... Senior goalkeeper Ashley Ross (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) played all 70 minutes in both contests, making nine saves against the Orange and six saves versus Maine... Simpson and senior defender Michele Polizois (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) are tied for the team lead in points with 18... Polizois has scored eight goals and added two assists while Simpson has totaled five goals and eight assists... UAlbany will host crosstown-rival Siena on Tuesday before visiting conference rival Vermont on Saturday... The Great Danes will return home to host Connecticut on Sunday in the final non-conference game of the season.
Boston University (5-7, 1-0 America East) traveled to two different towns named Durham over the weekend, kicking things off with a thrilling 3-2 come-from-behind victory over New Hampshire on Friday before heading south and falling to ninth-ranked Duke, 2-0... Faced with an early 2-0 deficit against the Wildcats, the Terriers reeled off three unanswered goals to win their America East opener for the fifth straight season... Freshman Giovanna Monaco (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) was the story against the Wildcats, scoring twice, including the game winner in the 61st minute... Senior Sheena Berry (Edinburgh, Scotland/Univ. of Edinburgh) assisted on the Terriers' first two goals... Senior tri-captain Holly Wiles (Harare, Zimbabwe/Arundel School) tied up the game in the 54th minute with her first goal of the year, becoming the 10th different Boston U. player to find the back of the cage this fall... Sophomore Kim Kastuk (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) made a combined 10 saves over the two games, including eight against Duke... The result against the Blue Devils marked the first time since Sept. 2, 2007, that the Terriers were shut out on the road... Boston U. will return to action on Saturday (Oct. 11) against Fairfield in its first conference home before heading to Providence on Sunday (Oct. 12)... Both games start at 3 p.m... Including the America East championship, the Terriers have won their last 12 contests against conference opponents.
The Stags (4-9, 1-0 America East) posted their first-ever win in America East play when they picked up a 1-0 shutout over the University of Vermont. Fairfield went 0-5 in conference play last season, the team’s first season of competition in America East...Molly Byrnes scored both goals for the Stags last week, a tying goal against Brown in the first half and the game-winner against Vermont. Emily Janis collected the assist on both goals...Jennifer Utz returned to the goal for the Vermont game and earned her second shutout of the season. The sophomore made six saves to record the shutout...Fairfield has improved its home record to 4-3 with all four victories coming at University Field. The Stags are 0-6 on the road this season. Three of Fairfield’s four victories have come via shutout, with Siena being the only opponent to score in a losing effort (5-1)... Fairfield travels to Cambridge to meet up with Boston University on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. in its lone game this week.
Maine (3-7, 0-1 America East) lost two tough games over the weekend, falling at Albany 3-1 and at Colgate 2-1...At Albany on Saturday, Maine fell behind in the eighth minute...Brittney Cummings (Belfast, Maine/Belfast) tied the game four minutes later when Maire Dineen (Toronto, Ontario/Michael Power/St. Joseph) found Cummings and she was able to knock it in...Brittany Fleck (Vancouver, British Columbia/Crofton House School) made eight saves in the game...Freshman Jocelyn Mitchell (Kanata, Ontario/Earl of March Secondary) had three shots in the game...At Colgate on Sunday, the Red Raiders took a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute but Maine answered two minutes later...Dineen scored off a corner via assists from Nicole Emery (Winthrop, Maine/Winthrop) and Mallory Anderson (Hampton Falls, N.H./Winnacunnet)...Fleck made eight saves in net...Each team had 15 shots in the contest...Maine played 17 players in the Colgate game...The Black Bears return to action on Saturday when they host New Hampshire at 12 p.m. and play #16 Rutgers in Providence, R.I. on Sunday at 12 p.m.
New Hampshire (5-7, 0-1 America East) split a pair of home games against teams from Boston with a 3-2 loss to Boston University and a 4-1 victory against Northeastern University... In the game vs. NU, the Wildcats scored four goals on seven shots on goal against a goalie that entered the game with a 1.10 GAA and .814 save percentage... The win vs. NU snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Huskies that dated back to a 1-0 win in October 1999... Whitney Frates (Woodstock, Vt./Kimball Union Academy) recorded her first career multiple-goal game with two tallies vs. the Huskies... Frates has scored a goal in three consecutive games and a point in four straight... Brittany Jacobs (Frederick, Md./Frederick), who entered the weekend with one career assist in 47 games, tallied two assists against BU and another vs. NU... The freshman duo of Frates and Hayley Rausch (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) has been highly efficient with its shots; they have combined to score 13 goals on 26 shots for a .500 shooting percentage; Frates leads the team with six goals on nine shots (.667)... UNH’s balanced attack includes four players with 6+ goals and eight players with multiple assists; last year, only two ?Cats scored 5+ goals ? with a high of six ? and five finished with multiple assists... UNH is 5-1 when recording double digits in shots... New Hampshire concludes its three-game homestand Oct. 8 (7 p.m.) against intrastate rival Dartmouth College.
Vermont (5-6, 0-1 America East) dropped a pair of contests last week, falling at Harvard 4-1 and then in its America East opener to Fairfield, 1-0... On Wednesday junior Maddi Martin (St. Louis, Mo./Villa Duchesne) gave the Cats a 1-0 lead against the Crimson with her second of the season, but the home team would score the final four goals of the contest... Senior Maegan Luce picked up her team high fifth assist of the season on Martin's tally... Redshirt freshman Brooke Crane (Lancaster, N.H./White Mountain) made nine saves in the contest for the Catamounts... The game marked Vermont's second straight contest at Harvard's Jordan Field after facing William & Mary in a neutral site game on September 28... On Sunday Vermont held a 10-6 shot advantage and 10-5 edge in corners but dropped a one-goal decision in its conference opener against the Stags... Saturday's game at Fairfield marked the final contest of six straight road games for the Catamounts who will now play two straight at home starting on Saturday with a league game against Albany (1 p.m.) and then face Brown (1 p.m.) on Sunday.