CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Boston University junior Nikki Lloyd (Kent, England/Virginia Commonwealth) earned the final America East field hockey player of the week of the 2008 season with her performance in the Terriers' must-win game Saturday. University of Maine freshman Stephanie Gardiner (Vancouver, British Columbia/Crofton House School) also came up big in a crucial game for the Black Bears, earning her the league's rookie of the week for the period ending November 2.
Lloyd was instrumental in the Terriers' 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Vermont on Saturday, tying the game with her team-leading seventh goal before setting up the game-winning goal in the second minute of overtime. Her unassisted tally in the 18th minute answered Vermont's early goal. In overtime, she dribbled into the circle and drew the attention of the UVM defense before passing off to Sheena Berry, who provided the gamewinner to propel the Terriers into the America East Tournament. This is Lloyd's second accolade of the season from the conference office.
Gardiner scored the game-winning goal against Fairfield to clinch a playoff berth for Maine. Gardiner's goal put the Black Bears up 2-0 against the Stags in Saturday's game, on the way to a 3-1 victory. This is the second consecutive honor for Gardiner, and the third straight week a Black Bear rookie has received this award.
The 2008 America East Championship will take place at University at Albany's Alumni Turf Field this weekend. The semifinals, to be played Friday, November 7, pit No. 1 Albany against No. 4 Boston University at 1 p.m. and No. 2 New Hampshire against No. 3 Maine at 4 p.m. The final will take place Sunday, November 9 at 1 p.m. with the winner receiving an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (10-9 overall, 4-1 America East) defeated America East Conference rival New Hampshire, 3-1, in the team’s only game last week... Senior defender Michele Polizois (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) scored one goal and assisted on the game winner to lead the Great Danes to their first America East Conference regular season title... Polizois assisted on Nicole Savage’s (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./James M. Coughlin) gamewinning goal in the first half, passing the ball from the top of the circle to the left wing, where Savage found the back of the cage... She then added an insurance goal later in the half on a penalty corner, smashing the ball from the top of the circle over the New Hampshire goalkeeper... Polizois leads the team with 13 goals and six assists for 32 total points this season... Senior Michelle Simpson (Middlesbrough, England/Univ. of Teesside) and junior Jess Lindsey (Norristown, Pa./Methacton) both recorded their 12th assists of the season on Polizois’ goal... Lindsey started off the scoring for the Great Danes in the game, collecting a rebound off of a Polizois shot on a corner and slipping the ball into the cage... With the win, UAlbany earned the right to host the America East Conference Tournament for the first time since joining the league in 2001... Tournament play will start on Friday at Alumni Turf Field.
Boston University (10-9, 3-2 America East) closed out its regular season with two wins, including a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory at Vermont to earn the fourth and final spot in next weekend's America East Championship... On Wednesday, the Terriers closed out their home and non-conference schedules with a 2-0 shutout victory against cross-town rival Harvard... Boston U. moved over .500 for the first time since the second week of the season... After Vermont took an early 1-0 lead, junior Nikki Lloyd (Kent, England/Virginia Commonwealth) tied the contest soon after with her team-leading seventh goal of the season before assisting on senior Sheena Berry's (Edinburgh, Scotland/Univ. of Edinburgh) game-winner in overtime... Junior Gabby Hajjar (Ottawa Hills, Ohio/Ottawa Hills) tallied a goal, an assist and a defensive save - all in the first half - of the Terriers' win over the Crimson... Senior Hayly Ross (North Yarmouth, Maine) opened the scoring against Harvard in the 12th minute with her second goal of the year... Sophomore Kim Kastuk (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) stopped all five she faced against Harvard before classmate Amanda Smith (Avon, Conn./Avon) played the final 4:35... Ross and classmates Lizzie Perreault (Teaticket, Mass./Falmouth) and Holly Wiles (Harare, Zimbabwe/Arundel School) were honored in a ceremony prior to the Harvard game... The class has helped the Terriers claim each of the last three America East titles and has amassed an impressive total of 58 wins... The Terriers will be making their sixth straight appearance in the America East Championship and have now qualified for 17 of the previous 18 conference tournaments.
Fairfield University (4-14 overall, 1-4 America East) finished its regular season following its game with the University of Maine last Saturday...Freshman Marit Westenberg and senior Emily Janis led all Fairfield scorers with 15 points each. Westenberg tallied six goals on the season, one less than senior Molly Byrnes...Janis and Amy Hosking tallied a team-high five assists this year, which places them tied for eighth in assists and tied for 10th in assists per game (0.28)...Byrnes seven goals more than doubled her three-year total of three goals...All four of Fairfield wins in 2008 came at home, where the team sported a 4-6 mark...Three of Fairfield’s four wins came by shutout with sophomore goalkeeper Jennifer Utz earning two of the shutouts and freshman Megan Ambrose picking up the other scoreless game.
Maine (6-10, 3-2 America East) defeated Fairfield 3-1 on Saturday afternoon to clinch a berth in the America East Tournament....Maine got on the board in the fifth minute when Nicole Emery (Winthrop, Maine/Winthrop) hit a nice shot off an assist from Maire Dineen (Toronto, Ontario/Michael Power/St. Joseph) that beat the goalie to the far post...Stephanie Gardiner (Vancouver, British Columbia/Crofton House School) scored the game-winner seven minutes later when she hit a hard shot from the right side that went in...After a Fairfield goal in the 56th minute, Jocelyn Mitchell (Kanata, Ontario/Earl of March Secondary) got an insurance goal when Dineen passed the ball up to a sprinting Mitchell and she slid it by the goalie...Brittany Fleck (Vancouver, British Columbia/Crofton House School) made four saves in net for Maine...Maine fell at Holy Cross 1-0 on Sunday afternoon...Mitchell and Dineen each had two shots...Fleck made five saves in net...Kelly Newton (Vancouver, British Columbia/Crofton House School) finished as the team’s leading scorer with 23 points, followed closely by Gardiner with 21....Dineen was third with 11 points...Maine outshot its opponents by a 257-226 margin...The Black Bears continue play on Friday against New Hampshire in the America East Semifinals at 1 p.m.
New Hampshire (8-10, 3-2 America East) was defeated 3-1 by Albany in its regular-season finale to finish in a tie for second place in the league standings... The Wildcats earned the #2 seed by virtue of the fourth tiebreaker ? goals scored in league games... UNH was a 4-3 victor at Maine, the Wildcats’ semifinal opponent, on Oct. 11... The ?Cats have a 19-10 lifetime record against the Black Bears but Maine has won both postseason meetings (’02 and ’03 semifinals)... This will be UNH’s 14th overall appearance in the league tournament... UNH’s lone tournament title came in 1998 and the Wildcats’ most recent title game appearance was in 2000... Kara Napolitano (Waltham, Mass./Waltham) scored her first goal of the season with a tally against Albany... Brittany Jacobs (Frederick, Md./Frederick) recorded her fourth assist of the season vs. UA and she is the team’s second-leading scorer (2-3-7) in league play... Jacobs has a point in six of the last eight games... Seven ?Cats started all 18 regular-season games... Rookie goalie Jenna Lehman (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) played every second in goal in the last 10 games... UNH has a 6-3 record when scoring the game’s first goal, but two of those losses were in league play to Boston U. and Albany... The Wildcats are 8-3 when recording double-digits in shots... New Hampshire had scored multiple goals in nine consecutive games before tallying one goal vs. the Great Danes... UNH is 1-1 in neutral-site games this season.
Vermont (9-9, 1-4 America East) wrapped up its season on Saturday, falling to Boston University 2-1 in overtime ... The Catamounts opened the scoring 12:18 into the contest when senior Maegan Luce (Hartford, Vt./Hartford) scored her sixth of the season on an unassisted tally ... Saturday marked the final game in a Catamount uniform for seniors Jen Angers (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield), Lauren Burke (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac), Wendy Carbone (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy), Kim Striegler (Whitney Point, N.Y./Whitney Point) and Luce ... The senior class helped the program earn 38 wins during their four years, which is more than any other class in program history ... The last time the two teams met at Moulton Winder Field came on October 14, 2006 when the Catamounts earned a 2-1 victory over the Terriers in double overtime.