CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Albany senior midfielder Michele Polizois (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) racked up seven points against Hofstra this past weekend to earn America East Field Hockey Player of the Week. New Hampshire's Whitney Frates (Woodstock, Vt./Kimball Union) recorded her first collegiate points in two Wildcat wins to receive Rookie of the Week. Both awards are for the week ending September 7. View full weekly release in PDF.
Polizois recorded three goals--the first hat trick in America East this season-- and an assist in the Great Danes' 6-2 win over Hofstra on Sunday. Polizois recorded her first goal of the game on a penalty corner just over five minutes into play. Two minutes later, she converted a penalty stroke, placing the ball into the upper left corner of the cage. She tallied her third goal less than a minute before halftime on a penalty corner to give the Great Danes a 4-1 advantage. Polizois added an assist on Albany's final goal of the game. On the week, Polizois led the Great Danes with 15 shots, including nine in the game against Hofstra.
Frates recorded three points on a goal and an assist to help lead UNH to victories against Ivy League foes Brown and Harvard last weekend. She recorded her first career point on an assist against the Bears. Then against Harvard, Frates' tally proved to be the game-winning goal. She also helped produce the Wildcats' second goal against the Crimson, as her initial shot was stopped by the goalkeeper but a teammate scored off the rebound.
America East field hockey went 6-5 during nonconference action last week. Two of those losses nearly tipped the other way, going into either overtime or penalty strokes.
Team notebooks:
No. 19 Albany (3-1, 0-0 America East) kicked off the home slate with wins over Cornell, 1-0, on Saturday, and Hofstra, 6-2, on Sunday... Despite outshooting Cornell 31-6, the Great Danes managed just one goal against the Big Red... Senior midfielder Michelle Simpson (Middlesbrough, England/University of Teesside) scored UAlbany’s lone goal, slipping a reverse stick shot past the Cornell goalkeeper... Senior midfielder Michele Polizois (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) recorded three goals and an assist in the Great Danes’ win over Hofstra... Polizois recorded her first goal of the game on a penalty corner just over five minutes into play, then two minutes later, she converted a penalty stroke, placing the ball into the upper left corner of the cage, past the Hofstra goalkeeper... Polizois tallied her third goal less than a minute before halftime, taking assists from Jess Lindsey and Simpson on a penalty corner to give the Great Danes a 4-1 advantage at the half... Polizois is second on the team in scoring with seven points and leads the team with 14 shots on goal... Freshman forward Megan Springmeyer (Washington, N.J./Warren Hills) made her first start for the Great Danes against Hofstra, and capitalized on the opportunity, scoring UAlbany’s first goal just 4:10 into the game... UAlbany will visit the West Coast this weekend, taking on California on Saturday and Stanford on Sunday.
No. 14 Boston University (2-1, 0-0 America East) split its two games at the Blue Hen Classic, hosted by the University of Delaware... The Terriers posted a 1-0 victory over host Delaware on Sunday after dropping a 3-2 overtime contest to Temple on Saturday... Freshman Giovanna Monaco (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) scored the game's lone goal - her first collegiate tally - on Sunday, as she redirected a pass from sophomore Allie Dolce (Jamestown, R.I./North Kingstown) in the 29th minute... On Saturday, Boston U. held a 21-6 advantage in shots against the Owls and erased an early two-goal deficit, but fell victim to an overtime tally in the 75th minute... Dolce scored her first career goal at 13:46 and classmate Maryette Stuart (Cumberland, Maine/Greely) followed suit with her first collegiate tally on a penalty stroke in the first minute of play in the second half to make it a 2-2 game... Temple held off the Terriers, however, behind a 10-save performance from goalkeeper Erin Hanshue... Sophomore goalkeeper Kim Kastuk (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) combined to make four saves on the weekend and picked up her second shutout of the season in the triumph over Delaware... Boston U. has had six different players score its six goals so far this season... The Terriers will host both No. 10 Michigan State (Sept. 13) and Northeastern (Sept. 14) next weekend. Both games will start at 1 p.m.
The Fairfield University field hockey team (1-3, 0-0 America East) will continue its four-game road trip this weekend when it travels for a Friday match up at Sacred Heart University on September 12 and a game at Hofstra on September 14. The team started the road swing with a pair of losses in Philadelphia, dropping decisions to Saint Joseph’s and Villanova... The Stags out shot Saint Joseph’s by a 19-10 count, the third straight game in which Fairfield had more shots than the opposition. The streak ended when Villanova registered a 12-4 advantage in the Sunday’s game... Jennifer Utz (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) made four saves against Villanova, giving her 14 saves in four games. Utz took over the goaltending duties this year after playing 15 minutes as a freshman... Marit Westenberg (The Hague, The Netherlands) scored her second goal of the season in the Saint Joseph’s game, giving her a team-high for goals and total points (4). Westenberg has tallied a goal in two of her first four games in a Stag uniform.
Maine (1-2, 0-0 America East) out shot Brown 36-11 on Sunday...Maine had a 21-5 advantage in shots on net...Maine goalie Elizabeth Anderson (Morrill, Maine/Belfast) had four saves for the Black Bears...M?ire Dineen (Toronto, Ontario/Michael Power/St. Joseph) scored a goal in her second consecutive game...Freshman Kelly Newton (Vancouver, British Columbia/Crofton House School) played well, registering five shots on goal...Fellow freshmen Stephanie Gardiner (Vancouver, British Columbia/Crofton House School) and Jocelyn Mitchell (Kanata, Ontario/Earl of March Secondary) each registered five shots for the Black Bears...Senior Kim MacDonald (East Greenwich, R.I./East Greenwich) had five shots...Maine played seven newcomers in the game...The Black Bears played their first game on their new field...The University of Maine Field Hockey Complex has a new artificial turf surface with lights coming in the near future...The turf is the same kind that was used in the Athens Olympics...The Black Bears return to action on Saturday when they take on Monmouth at 2 p.m. at the University of Vermont...Maine battles Ohio State the next day at 12:30 p.m. in Burlington.
New Hampshire (3-1, 0-0 America East) went undefeated last week with victories against Ivy League foes Brown (5-2) and Harvard (3-2) to extend its winning streak to three games... In the home opener vs. Brown, the Wildcats recorded their highest goal output since a 9-1 victory at UMBC on Oct. 28, 2006... Senior back Brittany Jacobs (Frederick, Md./Frederick) scored a goal in both of the weekend games; she had not scored a goal since Oct. 8, 2005 at Albany... Sarah Craigue (Concord, N.H./Concord) tallied a career-high two assists and matched her personal best of four points against Brown... Craigue factored in half of the team’s eight goals over the weekend... Craigue and Hayley Rausch (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) have recorded a point in three consecutive games... Whitney Frates (Woodstock, Vt./Kimball Union Academy) tallied her first career point with an assist vs. the Bears and then scored her first goal vs. the Crimson; that tally proved to be the game-winning goal... Meg Shea (Melrose, Mass./Melrose) recorded her second career multiple-goal game with two tallies vs. Brown... Shea finished with a game-high seven shots against the Bears and also led all players in shots with five vs. Harvard... Five freshmen were in the starting lineup vs. the Crimson... The Wildcats have scored 3+ goals in three consecutive games, a feat they did not accomplish last season... New Hampshire plays its second nationally-ranked team of the season when Michigan State travels to Durham on Sept. 14.
Vermont (1-2, 0-0 America East) split a pair of contests last week, both on the road ... The Catamounts fell to #11 Virginia 7-2 on Friday ... Senior Maegan Luce (Hartford, Vt./Hartford) and junior Maddi Martin (St. Louis, Mo./Villa Duchesne) each tallied goals for the Catamounts ... UVA was the second straight ranked opponent and ACC opponent for the Catamounts to start the season after playing #13 Boston College in their season opener ... Vermont earned its first victory of the season on Sunday with a 2-1 win over Longwood ... Senior Lauren Burke (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) picked up her first career goal in the contest and junior Megan Maynard (Waterbury Center, Vt./Harwood) scored the game winner 5:31 into the second half ... Senior Jen Angers (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) earned her first career multiple point game with a pair of assists in the contest ... Junior Kristen Heavens (Harwinton, Conn./Lewis Mills) made three stops to earn the win in goal ... After playing its first three contests on the road, Vermont will open the home portion of its schedule on Saturday, September 13 when the Cats host Ohio State (11 a.m.) in the first game of the third annual Sheraton Catamount Classic ... On Sunday Maine and Ohio State meet in the first game (12 p.m.), followed by the Cats taking on Monmouth (2:30 p.m.).