CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- University of Hartford's Carlos Villa (Las Conchas, Guatemala/Arrayanes/San Jacinto College) scored his ninth goal in his ninth game of the season en route to being named America East Player of the Week in men's soccer for the final week in September. University at Albany's L.J. Papaleo (Manlius, N.Y./Christian Brothers Acad.) and UMBC's Andrew Bulls (Millersville, Md./McDonogh) shared Rookie of the Week accolades by providing game-winning scores for their respective team.
Villa, a junior forward, found the back of the net 28 seconds into a second overtime period to
give the Hawks a 1-0 win over Massachusetts in the first game of the UMass Classic on
Friday. Villa, a junior forward, entered the week second in the country
in goals per game (1.14 gpg) and fourth in points per game (2.43 ppg). The Minutemen, NCAA College Cup participants last season, are just 1-2-1 in games against America East foes this year.
Papaleo, a freshman midfielder, scored the Great
Danes’ second goal, which proved to be the game-winner, in a 5-1
triumph at Marist on Sunday. The goal, which came in the 25th minute,
was the first of Papaleo’s career. The win, Albany’s third straight and
sixth overall, doubles last season’s win total before October.
Bulls, a freshman midfielder, scored his team’s lone goal in a 1-0
win over Mount St. Mary’s on Tuesday with the game-winning tally in the
15th minute. Bulls, who earns Rookie of the Week honors for the third
time this season, has scored in each of his last three games and is
tied for third among league leaders with five goals on the season.
America East teams, which hold a .558 winning percentage (35-26-16) in non-conference play, begin league action this weekend. Prior to that, a pair of squads will take on ranked opponenets as Stony Brook will travel to nationally-ranked Duke and Binghamton, unbeaten in its last eight games, will face sixth-ranked Maryland on Tuesday. Boston University will also take on crosstown-rival Harvard on Tuesday.
On Saturday, UMBC will travel to Maine in the first league contest of the season. Vermont, Boston U. and New Hampshire will host stony Brook, Albany and New Hampshire, respectively, in other league action on Saturday.
Team Notebooks
Albany (6-2-0, 0-0-0 America East) extended its winning streak to three matches for the second time this season after beating Marist, 5-1, on Sept. 28 ... In addition to outscoring their opponents 12-1, all three victories during the current streak have come against teams that defeated the Great Danes in 2007 ... UAlbany has already doubled its win total from a year ago entering conference play, and the team is off to its best start through eight matches since beginning the 2004 season with a 6-1-1 record ... Eleven players recorded a goal or an assist in the win over Marist ... The five goals scored against Marist was the most by a UAlbany team since the program defeated the Red Foxes by a score of 7-1 on Sept. 1, 2002 ... Defensively, the Great Danes have surrendered two goals in their six wins ... Claudio Dantas (Orlando, Fla/Crystal Lake/Jefferson College) leads the team in scoring with six goals and four assists for 16 points ... Goalkeeper Steward Ceus (North Rockland, N.Y./Rockland County) boasts an .821 save percentage as well as a 1.00 goals against average ... After finishing seventh in the league in scoring with just 0.65 goals per game last year, UAlbany is averaging a league-best 2.50 goals per game this season ... The Great Danes open up America East Conference play on Saturday, Oct. 4, when they visit Boston University at 7 p.m.
Binghamton (5-1-3, 0-0-0 America East) has an eight-game unbeaten streak heading into its Tuesday night match at No. 2 Maryland. It marks the second time ever that the Bearcats have faced the Terps on the road. In their previous meeting, the then top-seeded and defending national champion Terps defeated Binghamton 3-0 ... in Friday’s 1-0 win at Cornell, junior goalkeeper Jason Stenta (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley) tied the program record with his 25.0 career shutout. Adam Napell (1986-89) also recorded 25 shutouts during his career ... the starting backline of seniors Barry Neville (Glasgow, Scotland/Mearns Castle) and Mark Wood (Lincolnshire, England/Virginia Intermont), junior Kyle Kucharski (Maine, N.Y./Maine-Endwell) and sophomore Kyle Manscuck (Rochester, N.Y./Aquinas Institute) have also been instrumental in the Bearcats blanking five of their last six opponents ... junior forward Cameron Keith (Aberdeenshire, Scotland/Aberdeenshire Univ.) netted his team-high third goal of the season against Cornell on Friday. All three of his goals have been game winners.
Boston University (2-4-2, 0-0-0 America East) was shut out for the fourth time this season after losing to Northeastern, 1-0, this past Tuesday ... The loss snapped a three-game unbeaten streak that included wins over Rhode Island and Colgate along with a draw against Brown ... The Terriers are now 0-3-1 on the road ... The offense has outscored opponents, 11-9, through eight games ... Senior Hrafn Davidsson (Reykjavik, Iceland/University of Iceland) tied a career high in saves with seven against the Huskies ... Freshman Michael Bustamante (Chelsea, Mass./Chelsea) led the squad with two shots in the contest ... Junior Shaun Taylor (Sandown, England/Sandown) remains in the lead on the team with goals (four) and points (nine) ... Terriers host their second Ivy League opponent of the year in Harvard on Tuesday at 7 p.m. after having had a week to relax and train ... The players faced five teams in 12 days before the week off ... Will meet the Crimson for the 40th time as the rivalry dates back to 1951 ... Harvard leads the series, 22-11-6 ... Terriers then host Albany on Saturday for the first conference game of the season.
Hartford (4-3-2, 0-0-0 America East) split a pair of games last weekend at the UMass Classic, tying for second place ...Hartford defeated host-team Massachusetts in a double overtime battle on Friday evening before falling to Rhode Island 1-0 in double overtime on Sunday ... Junior forward Carlos Villa (Las Conchas, Guatemala/Arrayanes/San Jacinto College) netted the game-winning goal just 28 seconds into the second overtime period to extend the Hawks’ winning streak to three games ... Villa now has nine goals on the season in just nine games of action for Hartford ... Sophomore Sam Groves (Sutton, Mass./Worcester Academy) was credited with the assist, which was his second on the season ... Junior Nenad Cudic (Novi Sad, Serbia/Fourth Grammar/Auburn Univ. at Montgomery) and freshman Luke Citriniti (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) combined for the shutout in goal ... Cudic recorded four saves, while Citriniti made one stop ... Hartford snapped its three-game winning streak in a 1-0 double overtime loss to Rhode Island on Sunday... Both teams finished equal in shots during the two regulation periods ... Citriniti made his first collegiate start in goal, making three saves in 100 minutes of action ... Villa, Groves and freshman Patrick Boucher (Cromwell, Conn./Cromwell) were named to the All-Tournament Team ... Hartford returns home on Saturday, October 10 to face New Hampshire in the start of America East conference play ... The Hawks will look to maintain its perfect home record at Al-Marzook Field.
Maine (3-4-1, 0-0-0 America East) recorded a 4-0 win over Bryant University on Friday afternoon... Maine’s game against Harvard on Sunday afternoon was postponed due to tropical storm Kyle, which was expected to impact New England during the weekend... Rookie Ross Seagram (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) scored two goals in Maine 4-0 win over Bryant... The goals were the first two of his collegiate career... Nikola Bogdanovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Oral Roberts) added a goal and an assist against Bryant... Bogdanovic leads Maine in scoring with two goals and three assists for seven points... The Black Bears continue to take strides forward as a program... Maine’s three wins on the season ties what it finished with a year ago... Maine has 10 goals on the season, one more than it finished with a year ago... The Black Bears have scored 30 points on the season, four more than it finished with during the 2007 season... Maine has currently posted back-to-back shutouts... The last time that the Black Bears posted back-to-back shutouts was to open the 1996 season... Maine’s four goals against Bryant were the most goals since scoring four against Manhattan on Sept. 18, 2005... Twelve different Black Bears have scored at least one point on the season... Maine keeper Namanja Kostic (New Belgrade, Serbia/Virginia Intermont College) is 2-2-1 on the season with a 0.79 goals against average... He has three shutouts in six games played on the season... The three shutouts are the most since Chad Mongeon posted three during the 2003 season.
UMBC (5-2-1, 0-0-0 America East) freshman forward Andrew Bulls (Millersville, Md./McDonogh) continued his torrid scoring and sophomore midfielder Dustin Dzwonkowski (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) added a key insurance marker as host UMBC held off Mount St. Mary’s, 2-1 at UMBC Soccer Stadium on Tuesday... The Retrievers extended their unbeaten string vs. the Mountaineers to 11 straight, with ten wins and a tie in that span. UMBC is also 7-1-4 in its last 12 home games.... Bulls got UMBC on the board in the 15th minute, scoring for the third time in the last three outings... It was Bulls’ fifth goal of the season and UMBC’s last four goals had come from the freshman...Bulls has already matched 2007 team leader Andrew Gillis (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall) with five goals on the campaign... Gillis is out indefinitely with a foot injury...The Retrievers added a score in the 61st minute. Sophomore forward B.J. Quigley (Essex, Md./Archbishop Curley) had a long throw-in deep in Mount territory and senior midfielder Dan Bulls (Millersville, Md./Old Mill) flicked the rebound to his left and Dzwonkowski it in from 16 yards out for his second goal of the season... UMBC’s last seven games have been decided by a single goal or has gone the distance to a draw... The Retrievers have not outshot a single opponent this season... The match between 17th-ranked Loyola (Md.) and UMBC was postponed due to torrential rain and unplayable field conditions at UMBC Stadium on Saturday... No make-up date has been scheduled at this time... The contest was moved to the turf surface at UMBC Stadium from the grass surface at UMBC Soccer Stadium because of heavy overnight and morning rain...After several hours of dry weather, the rain began 10 minutes before game time. Play started at 1:00 p.m, but the intensity of the rain increased and standing water began to accumulate on the field... Officials stopped play with 30:05 remaining in the first half (1:17 p.m.) and the game tied at 0-0...After a 20-minute delay, the game was postponed...UMBC opens America East Conference play on Saturday at Maine... The Retrievers lead the series, 4-1 and have won four straight vs. the Black Bears... UMBC is 2-2-1 in America East openers and 1-2-1 when they open league play on the road... The Retrievers were 0-3-1 on the road in conference play in 2007 and their last road win in America East play (winless streak of five) occurred in Orono late in the 2006 season.
New Hampshire (5-1-2, 0-0-0 America East), which is ranked fifth in the latest NSCAA Northeast regionally rankings, earned its first loss of the season at Harvard, 3-1, in the lone game of the week for the Wildcats... Junior forward Chris Banks (Westborough, Mass./Westborough), who leads the America East conference in shots (3.38 spg), scored the Wildcats lone goal of the game on a penalty shot... Sophomore goalkeeper Colin O’Donnell (Springfield, Mass./Minnechaug Regional) made one save in his first loss as a Wildcat (6-1-1 career record)... The Wildcats open up America East action at Hartford on Saturday, Oct. 4 before returning home to host Maine on Wednesday, Oct. 8.
Stony Brook (2-7-1, 0-0-0 America East) lost both of its games last week... The Seawolves fell 2-0 to Marist on September 24... They recorded only three shots on goal in the match vs. the Red Foxes... Stony Brook continued its difficult non-conference schedule at #9 Akron, falling to Akron 1-0 on a goal with nine seconds left in the match... Stony Brook faces its fourth ranked team of the year when it faces Duke, ranked 24th in the latest Soccer America Poll, in Durham on Tuesday night... It opens America East play on Saturday afternoon at Vermont.
Vermont (3-2-4, 0-0-0 America East) went 0-1-2 in three games last week ... UVM dropped a 2-1 decision to Patriot League Champion Colgate Monday at Centennial Field and played a pair of scoreless ties with Rhode Island and Massachusetts over the weekend at the UMass Classic ... After the draw at UMass, a NCAA College Cup participant in 2007, the Catamounts are 2-2-1 against teams that advanced to last year’s NCAA Tournament ... Senior Jordan Crasilneck (Eugene, Ore.) set up UVM’s goal vs. Colgate Monday, his team-high fifth assist of the season ... Crasilneck also became the second Catamount to record 20 career assists ... Roger Scully (East Lyme, Conn.) led a stingy defensive effort with two more shutouts this week to lower his goals against average to 0.85. He now has four shutouts on the season and is tied for second all-time at UVM with 21 ... Scully, Connor Tobin (Fort Collins, Colo.) and Jake McFadden (Colchester, Vt.) were named to the UMass Classic All-Tournament team ... The Catamounts open the defense of their 2007 America East Championship hosting Stony Brook Saturday at 2:00pm in the conference opener for both teams.