CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Albany's Kayla Best (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) and Tee Ladouceur (Slingerlands, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) have been named America East Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively. New Hampshire's Michaela Hardy is this week's Defender of the Week. The honors for the week end March 30 were announced on March 31. Complete Weekly Release.
Best, a sophomore midfielder, powered the Great Danes to a pair of victories last week, totaling 10 goals, one assist and six ground balls. Best had a career-high six scores in a league win over UMBC. She also scored four times and added a career-high five ground balls in a victory over Longwood on Sunday. On the season, Best is second on Albany in points (30) and goals (26).
Hardy, a junior midfielder, helped the Wildcats stretch their win streak to eight after two more wins last week. Hardy recorded a game-high five caused turnovers and two ground balls against UMass on Tuesday and had a game-high three caused turnovers against Binghamton on Saturday. The Wilcats are holding opponents to a league best 6.91 goals per game.
Ladouceur, a freshman attack/midfielder, scored 10 goals in two games last week to lead the Great Danes to a pair of wins. Ladouceur scored six times, including five in the second half, against UMBC on Wednesday. She added four more tallies in a win over Longwood on Sunday.
Team-By-Team Notebook
Albany (7-3, 1-1 America East) has won five of its last six games following last week’s victories over UMBC (17-12) and Longwood (16-11)... The Great Danes are off to their best start since 1998 when the program competed at the NCAA Division II level... UAlbany overcame a four-goal deficit in the final period to win for the first time in four trips to UMBC Stadium... Kayla Best (Guilderland, N.Y. / Guilderland) and Tee Ladouceur (Slingerlands, N.Y. / Bethlehem Central) each posted career-highs in goals (6) and points (7) at UMBC... Best and Ladouceur are the first Great Danes to score six goals in a game since Kate Fontana accomplished that feat against Vermont on April 22, 2005... Fontana was also the last UAlbany player to register seven points when she turned that trick on March 31, 2007... Ladouceur’s goal total was one off the freshman single-game record held by Maria Ferrucci (Manhattan, 2000) and Alexis DiDomenico (Le Moyne, 2001)... Best, a sophomore midfielder, extended her scoring streak to 23 consecutive games with a four-goal effort versus Longwood... Ladouceur, a freshman who also scored four times vs. Longwood, added a career-best five draw controls... Ladouceur has accounted for four or more points against six opponents this season... freshman Nikki Branchini (Guilderland, N.Y. / Guilderland) scored a career-high three goals versus Longwood... Branchini, who is sixth nationally in draw controls at 3.6 per game, tied a personal-best with three caused turnovers... Brittany Scott (Baldwinsville, N.Y. / C.W. Baker) had a pair of goals vs. Longwood, the first time she has tallied multiple goals since March 3... Jane Bush (Jordan, N.Y. / Jordan-Elbridge) has found the scoring column in nine consecutive games... Bush had a career-high three ground balls vs. Longwood... The Great Danes will host their highest-ranked opponent when No. 5 Syracuse invades John Fallon Field on April 2.
Boston University (8-2, 4-0 America East) has six players that have tallied 20 or more points through 10 games, headed by junior Sarah Dalton with 36... Dalton (.721), senior co-captain Lauren Morton (.622) and junior Steph Walker (.526) are all scoring on more than half of their shots on goal... While Boston University holds only a 55-44 scoring advantage in the second half, the team has outscored opponents by an impressive 90-47 margin during the first half... During the five-game winning streak, the Terriers have outscored opponents, 66-28... During the last five games, sophomore Rachel Klein has made 43 saves while allowing 35 goals for a 7.00 goals against average.
UMBC (2-9, 1-3 America East) dropped two games last week, falling to America East rival Albany, 17-12, on Wednesday and to California, 11-9, on Sunday... The Retrievers have dropped seven in a row and finish the month of March without a win... UMBC held a two-goal lead with 15 minutes remaining against the Great Danes, but Albany ended the game with seven unanswered goals... Freshman midfielder Amanda Pappas (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) scored a career-high three goals and four points in the game... Senior attack Ali Levendusky (Baldwin, Md./John Carroll) has posted a hat trick in nine of 11 games this season and leads the Retrievers with 33 goals and 36 points... Levendusky scored four points against the Golden Bears to move into a tie for 10th place all-time at UMBC with 152 career points... She became the 11th Retriever ever to reach the 150-point plateau... Levendusky also ranks ninth all-time with 119 career goals... Nine different Retrievers scored a goal on the week, and 14 different players have tallied at least one goal on the season... Sophomore midfielder Kelly Burgoyne (Century, Md./Sykesville) recorded three ground balls, four draw controls and five caused turnovers in two games... Senior attack Meghan Keelan (Randallstown, Md./Mount de Sales) leads the Retrievers with 10 assists, while Levendusky has posted a team-best 18 draw controls... Senior midfielder Maggie Chizmar (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) leads UMBC with 11 caused turnovers, and freshman midfielder Megan Linkous (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) has picked up a team-best 19 ground balls... The Retrievers hit the road for the final time when they take on America East rival Stony Brook on Wednesday, then return to open a season-ending four-game homestand against Howard on Saturday.
New Hampshire (9-2, 2-0 America East) entered both the IWLCA Poll (#18) and Inside Lacrosse Media Poll (#16) last week, then extended its winning streak to eight games with a 10-6 road victory against UMass and a 14-5 win at home vs. Binghamton ... UNH’s 9-2 record is the team’s best mark through 11 games since the 1991 team opened 10-1 ... Sarah Von Bargen (East Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) recorded her 100th career point with the third of her six points vs. Binghamton on March 29; Von Bargen currently has 87 goals and 16 assists for 103 points in 42 career games; the six points matched her career high ... Michaela Hardy (Reading, Mass./Reading) scored her 50th career goal with the last of her three goals vs. Binghamton ... Susie Piotrkowski (Franklin, Conn./Norwich Free Academy) tallied a career-high six goals against Binghamton to match her personal best of six points ... UNH has not yielded double digits in goals during its eight-game winning streak, and an opponent has scored 10+ goals just once this season ... During the win streak, the ?Cats have outscored the opposition 97-47 with a 238-141 shot advantage ... Shaunna Kaplan (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) has a team-best 10-game point-scoring streak ... Hardy has scored a goal in eight consecutive games and has already established personal single-season highs in both goals (26) and points (30) ... Ashley Durepo (Concord, N.H./Concord) has already set personal single-season bests in both assists (nine) and points (26).
Stony Brook (5-3, 0-1 America East) won its only game of the week. In a 14-12 win over American University in non-conference action, Stony Brook used six second-half goals over a seven minute period to secure the victory. Senior Diana Caroleo (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) and Kaitlin Leggio (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) totaled 12 points in the victory. The Seawolves are now 2-0 against the Patriot League in 2008. Stony Brook returns to conference action with two home games this week. On Wednesday, the Seawolves host UMBC at 3 pm before taking on New Hampshire on Saturday at 12 pm.
Vermont (5-4, 2-1 America East) dropped both games this week to fall to 5-4 overall and 2-1 in America East ... The Catamounts suffered their first league loss, dropping a 15-8 decision at No. 11 Boston U on Saturday ... The game was televised live on CN8, marking the first-ever television game for both teams ... It was one of 12 games, and the only women’s contest, that CN8 is broadcasting this season ... Freshman Megan MacDonald (Wayland, Mass./Wayland) led Vermont with four goals and one assist on the week ... Junior Kristen Millar (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair Secondary) also tallied five points with three goals and two assists ... Sophomore Alison Haigh (Northborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional) also tallied four goals, including three free position shots ... Millar will begin the week five draw controls shy of becoming the all-time NCAA Division I leader ... She has totaled 219 career draw controls and the record is 223 ... Vermont travels to Dartmouth on Tuesday (April 1) for a 2:30pm contest and then hosts Albany on Saturday (April 5) at 1:00pm.