CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Maine's women's soccer team swept this week's America East soccer awards, as senior Christine LaBelle (Nepean, Ontario/Mother Teresa) and freshman Carolyne Nellis Nellis (Quebec City, Quebec/FX Garneau) earned Player and Rookie of the Week honors , respectively. The Black Bears' .625 winning percentage is second only to Binghamton in the league.
LaBelle, a senior forward, scored the game-winning goal in Maine’s 2-0 win against Cornell on Sunday to propel the Black Bears to a 3-1-4 start to the season. LaBelle, who is tied for the team lead with six points on the season, scored off a pass from Cristina Di Ielsi in the 10th minute.
Nellis had an assist in a 2-1 double-overtime loss to Dartmouth on Wednesday. Nellis flicked a corner kick to teammate Hailey Blackburn for the score. A freshman forward, Nellis is third on Maine with five points in her first collegiate season.
Team Notebooks
Albany (2-9-0, 0-0-0 America East) lost all three of its matches this past week ... After taking a 2-1 loss to Massachusetts on Sept. 17, the Great Danes were defeated by Army, 1-0 on Sept. 19 and Sacred Heart by a score of 1-0 on Sept. 21 at the Governor’s Cup ... Freshmen Annika Hanson (Seattle, Wash./Seattle Prep) and Rebecca Lee (Selkirk, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) were named to the all-tournament team ... Lee scored UAlbany’s lone goal this week on a penalty shot against UMass ... Ashley Tirabassi (Cambridge, Ontario/Monsignore Doyle) and Lee lead the America East Conference in scoring with nine points apiece ... Senior Amber Maisonet (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy), a four-time All-America East selection in softball, made her first three career starts in goal this past week ... She posted an .840 save percentage as well as a 1.33 goals against average during the stretch and improved her save total each match ... Maisonet’s 10 saves against Sacred Heart was the most by a UAlbany goalkeeper since Oct. 7, 2007 ... The Great Danes play their first America East Conference match at Boston University on Sept. 28 at 1 p.m.
Binghamton (4-2-1, 0-0 America East) extended its unbeaten streak to four with a 1-1 tie with Rider before suffering a shutout loss at Syracuse... The Bearcats have been decimated by injuries and had just one available substitute for each game ... That substitute, junior forward Emily Cirillo (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal/Broome CC) accounted for the team’s lone goal of the week. Her tally in the 72nd minute forced overtime and gave Binghamton the home draw against Rider... On the play, sophomore forward Dani Raske (River Vale, N.J./Pascack) dribbled around a pair of Bronc defenders and sent a perfect ball to the goalmouth, where Cirillo finished. Raske, who earned America East, ECAC and Soccer America honors for her hat trick against Iona on September 12, now has a team-high eight points... Junior keeper Jen McEachron (Hoosick Falls, N.Y./Hoosick Falls) has allowed just one first-half goal all fall and owns a 0.68 goals against average with three shutouts... Binghamton hosts Niagara in its final non-conference game on Wednesday. The Bearcats then welcome New Hampshire in the America East opener on Sunday.
Boston University (4-5-0, 0-0-0 America East), which was receiving votes in last week’s NSCAA national poll, dropped to 4-5 on the season as it fell to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2-0, and Minnesota, 1-0, in the Minnesota Gold Classic. Sophomores Janie Reilly (Coral Springs, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) and Lina Cords (Leonardtown, Md./Leonardtown) earned all-tournament team honors for their play. Every team in the two-day tournament was receiving votes in the latest NSCAA national poll. BU will return to the confines of Nickerson Field on Wednesday, Sept. 24 for a 7 p.m. game with Brown, before hosting its conference opener on Sunday, Sept. 28 when Albany travels to Boston.
Hartford (2-3-3, 0-0-0 America East) played to a double-overtime draw against Colgate on Sunday afternoon in its only action of the week. The Hawks and Raiders each scored a goal in the contest but couldn’t find the back of the net in either overtime period. Senior Lauren Aldred (Manchester, England/Oklahoma Baptist University) scored Hartford’s goal early in the second half on a penalty kick. It was her second goal of the season and tied her for the team lead in the category... Freshman Lauren Brodeur (Wilbraham, Mass./Wilbraham and Monson) made a pair of saves in the game; she now has 37 on the season... Hartford begins a three-game road trip at Iona College on Wednesday, September 24. The Hawks will also open conference play this week at Stony Brook on Sunday, September 28.
Maine (3-1-4, 0-0-0 America East) lost in the last minute of double overtime to Dartmouth to end the Black Bears’ six-game unbeaten streak to open the season...Maine rebounded for a 2-0 win at Cornell...Against Dartmouth, Hailey Blackburn (York, Maine/York) had the Black Bears goal on a header...Freshman Carolyne Nellis (Quebec City, Quebec/FX Garneau) flicked the ball to Blackburn off a Cristina Di Ielsi (Laval, Quebec/Vincent Massey Collegiate) corner kick...Jasmine Phillips (Nepean, Ontario/Merivale) made five saves...Against Cornell, Christine LaBelle (Nepean, Ontario/Mother Teresa) scored in the 10th minute off a Di Ielsi pass...Veronique Fleury (Montreal, Quebec/College Saint Sacrement) added another goal with 17 minutes left in the game...Phillips made four saves for her 31st career shutout...Maine has the same amount of shots as its opponents this season with 75 apiece...However, Maine has 49 shots on net to its opponents’ 35...Fleury, LaBelle and Laura Martel (Lewiston, Maine/Lewiston) are all tied for the team lead in points with six...Freshman Nellis is fourth with five points...The Black Bears return to action on Sunday as they open up America East play at UMBC at 12 p.m.
UMBC (1-8-0, 0-0-0 America East) dropped a pair of games last week, falling at home to Drexel, 3-0, on Sept. 17, and at Elon, 2-0, on Sept. 19... Freshman goalie Mo Van Vlerah (Boyds, Md./Northwest) recorded nine saves in 162:45 of action on the week... Sophomore midfielder Morgan Warrington (Magnolia, Del./St. Thomas Moore Prep) has scored both of the Retrievers’ goals on the season... After traveling to the University of Pennsylvania for a road game on Sept. 24, UMBC returns home to open America East Conference play against Maine on Sept. 28.
New Hampshire (1-6-1, 0-0-0 America East) went 0-1-0 last week, falling at home to Pac-10 foe Oregon State, 2-1 ... the Wildcats have five one-goal losses already this season ... their tie at UMass and loss at Northeastern are the only two contests that have not been decided by a single goal ... senior forward Sara Hourihan (Lynnfield, Mass./Lynnfield) scored her third goal of the year on a penalty kick to tie the game, 1-1 ... Hourihan leads the team in goals (3) and points (7) ... junior goalkeeper Ally Yost (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) made six saves and has not allowed more than two goals in any of her five starts ... the Wildcats return to action Thursday, Sep. 25 at 4 p.m. when they play host to intrastate rival Dartmouth College at Lewis Fields.
Stony Brook (4-5-0, 0-0-0 America East) went 1-2 this week, defeating Bryant before falling to in-state rivals Hofstra and Columbia ... senior Trine Allenberg scored her team-high third goal against Bryant ... junior Kate Collins scored the game-winner in the 55th minute against Bryant, less than five minutes after the Bulldogs had tied the game ... junior goalkeeper Marisa Viola made eight saves in the victory over Bryant ... the Seawolves dropped a 1-0 decision in double overtime to Hofstra on Thursday ... the Pride scored the game-winning goal with just 3:33 remaining in the second overtime ... Viola made 12 saves in the contest against Hofstra ... the Seawolves fell to in-state rival Columbia, 4-0, on Sunday afternoon in their final non-conference game of the season ... Viola made nine saves in the contest against the Lions ... Stony Brook will open conference play on Sunday against Hartford ... the teams battled to a scoreless tie last season ... SBU defeated UMBC, 3-0, in their America East opener in 2007.
Vermont (1-8-0, 0-0-0 America East) dropped both games on the week, falling 2-0 at Rhode Island on a pair of late goals by the Rams and 2-1 to Colgate on a pair of early tallies by the Raiders ... Sophomore midfielder Sasha Morey (Cincinnati, Ohio/Cincinnati Country Day) scored her second goal in four games in the loss to Colgate ... The Catamounts have used nine different starting lineups in nine games this season ... Vermont is coming off a stretch of four games in eight days ... UVM will take a 7-day break from competition before facing Rider in Lawrenceville, N.J. on September 27 in the final non-conference match of the season.