CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Both Vermont's Maegan Luce (Hartford, Vt./Hartford) and Boston U.'s Kim Kastuk (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) posted big-time performances in clutch moments for their respective teams during the week ending September 28, earning each of them America East field hockey co-player of the week. Fairfield's Megan Ambrose (St. Louis, Mo./Villa Duchense) took home rookie of the week for a solid performance in her first two collegiate starts in net for the Stags last week. View complete weekly release in PDF.
Luce scored a goal and three assists on the week helping the Catamounts earn a pair of victories. The senior scored the gamewinner 2:11 into overtime lifting Vermont to a 4-3 win over Dartmouth on Wednesday. She also added a pair of assists, including the set-up of the game-tying score with 3:02 remaining in regulation. On Sunday, Luce dished out an assist on Vermont's first goal of a 2-1 neutral site victory over William & Mary.
Kastuk turned in an impressive performance in the Boston U. cage, lifting the Terriers to a 3-2 upset win against No. 8 Virginia on Sunday. The sophomore matched her career high--13 saves-- including nine in overtime to send the game into penalty strokes. After helping to even the stroke-off in the opening round with a save on the Cavaliers' fourth try, she opened the next round with an incredible leaping save on a stroke destined for the top left corner of the goal.
Ambrose appeared in the first two games over the weekend, and allowed just two goals in those games. She picked up a shutout in her second career start, a 1-0 win over Cornell. Ambrose made 11 saves on the week, including eight against Lock Haven. She owned a 1.29 goals against average and an .846 save percentage for the week.
Three non-conference games are slated for Wednesday before America East action gets under way Friday afternoon and continues Saturday. New Hampshire, Albany and Fairfield host conference contests this weekend.
Team Notebooks:
No. 18 UAlbany (5-6, 0-0 America East) dropped three straight games last week... The Great Danes fell to Colgate, 1-0, and #15 Princeton, 6-3, at home, and also lost a 2-1 decision to Massachusetts on the road... Four players recorded single goals last week... Senior midfielder Michele Polizois (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) scored a goal and added an assist against Princeton... Polizois continues to lead the Great Danes with eight goals and two assists for 18 total points... Junior forward Nicole Savage (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./James M. Coughlin) also recorded one goal and one assist on the week, notching UAlbany’s lone goal against Massachusetts and assisting on Alysia Hough’s (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton) goal against Princeton... Junior defender Jess Lindsey (Norristown, Pa./Methacton) also scored a goal and added an assist against the Tigers... With seven assists on the season, Lindsey has moved into a tie for second on UAlbany’s career assists chart with 32... She needs just two helpers to take over sole possession of first place on the list... The Great Danes host #2 Syracuse on Wednesday at 4 p.m. before kicking off America East Conference play against Maine at Alumni Turf Field on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Boston University (4-6, 0-0 America East) played host to a pair of perennial powers from the state of Virginia and came away with a weekend split, including a 3-2 victory over No. 8 Virginia in two rounds of penalty strokes on Sunday... The Terriers came up just short in a 2-1 contest against Old Dominion on Saturday... Sophomore goalkeeper Kim Kastuk (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) was the story against the Cavaliers, matching a career high with 13 saves in the the game, including nine in overtime, before adding three more saves in the stroke-off... Juniors Nikki Lloyd (Kent, England/Virginia Commonwealth) and Gabby Hajjar (Ottawa Hills, Ohio/Ottawa Hills) and freshman Kiley Allosso (Virginia Beach, Va./Cox) each made both of their strokes... Allosso sent the stroke-off into a second round and later recorded the clincher... After Virginia scored on its first corner, the Terriers got consecutive goals from senior Sheena Berry (Edinburgh, Scotland/Univ. of Edinburgh) and Lloyd to take a 2-1 lead... The Cavaliers tied it up before halftime, but the final 66 minutes of play did not produce a goal on either end... Sophomore Maryette Stuart (Cumberland, Maine/Greely), who helped to set up Berry's goal and also converted one of her two chances in the stroke-off, provided the Terriers' lone goal against ODU on a penalty stroke... The Terriers doubled up the Lady Monarchs in shots, 10-5, and only allowed two corners, but the visitors capitalized on both to come away with the win... The Terriers open up conference play on Friday (Oct. 1) at UNH.
Fairfield (3-8, 0-0 America East) won its third game of the season against Ivy League foe Cornell University on Sunday, bringing the team’s home record to 3-3. All three of the team’s wins have come at home this year...The win over Cornell marked Fairfield’s first victory over an Ivy League opponent since a 2-1 decision in September, 2005...Defender Carly McCullough tallied two points in her first two years as a Stag, but came back with five points in three games last week. She scored a pair of goals and had an assist, placing her fourth on the team in scoring...Emily Janis tallied points in two games last week, including the game-winning goal against Cornell. She nearly doubled her season total for scoring with the five-point week, giving her a team-high 11 points...Freshman Marit Westenberg also reached double figures in scoring with 10 points, ranking her second on the team...The Stags will travel to Brown University on October 1 before opening up America East play with a home game against Vermont on Saturday afternoon.
Maine (3-5, 0-0 America East) lost to Providence by the score of 6-3 on Sunday...The Friars jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first six minutes, but Stephanie Gardiner (Vancouver, British Columbia/Crofton House School) cut the lead in half less than a minute later...Kelly Newton (Vancouver, British Columbia/Crofton House School) had an assist on the goal...Providence took a 3-1 lead before Jocelyn Mitchell (Kanata, Ontario/Earl of March Secondary) notched her third goal of the season less than a minute before halftime...The Friars scored three more goals before Kallie Aldus (Belfast, Maine/Belfast) scored with less than five minutes left to make it 6-3...Gardiner now has 12 points on the season which is second to Newton’s 14 on the Black Bear squad this season...Gardiner, Mitchell and Newton all have 20 shots on goal this season...Gardiner has registered at least one point in four out the last five games...The Black Bears return to action at Albany on Saturday at 1 p.m. and play at Colgate at 12 p.m. on Sunday.
New Hampshire (4-6, 0-0 America East) fell below .500 for the first time since dropping the season opener with last weekend’s overtime losses on the road to Lafayette (3-2) and 17th-ranked Rutgers (4-3)... Freshman forward Whitney Frates (Woodstock, Vt./Kimball Union Academy) tallied a career-high three points with a goal and an assist vs. Rutgers... Junior forward Meg Shea (Melrose, Mass./Melrose) scored a goal in both of last weekend’s games and has recorded a goal in four of the last five games... Senior forward Sarah Craigue (Concord, N.H./Concord) has recorded a point in four of the last five games and in 7 of 10 this season... Seven Wildcats have multiple assists this season; in comparison, only five ?Cats had multiple assists last year... Four of the last five games have gone into overtime, and the Wildcats have a 1-3 record in those games... All four overtime sessions have ended within four minutes, and three of four have ended on the first shot of OT... UNH is winless in five games against nationally-ranked teams, and that includes the overtime losses to Louisville and Rutgers... New Hampshire, which has not played a home game since Sept. 14, opens its America East conference slate Oct. 3 at home against Boston University.
Vermont (5-4, 0-0 America East) earned a pair of victories on the week, defeating Dartmouth in overtime on Wednesday, 4-3, and then topping William & Mary on Sunday at Harvard, 2-1... Against the Big Green the Catamounts jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but needed a Wendy Carbone (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) goal with 3:02 remaining to send it into overtime... Senior Maegan Luce (Hartford, Vt./Hartford) ended the contest 2:11 into the extra session with a goal, to go with her two assists on the day... Junior Kristen Heavens (Harwinton, Conn./Lewis Mills) earned the win in goal, the 22nd of her career, tying her for second place all-time at Vermont... UVM is 2-0 in overtime this year... The four goals were a season-high for Vermont... Freshman Mackenzie Williams (Rome, N.Y./Rome Free Academy) tallied the game-winner against the Tribe in the second half and classmate Brooke Crane (Lancaster, N.H./White Mountain) earned her first career win in goal in her first career action with six saves... Senior Megan Maynard (Waterbury Center, Vt.) picked up her team-best fifth tally of the season vs. William & Mary... Both of Williams' goals this season have been game-winners... The Cats have won their last 16 games when holding a shot advantage... Vermont returns to action this week with a pair of road games at Harvard on Wednesday (5 p.m.) and in its America East opener at Fairfield on Saturday (1 p.m.).