CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - At the outset of a new season, University of Vermont's Gabby Bonfigli (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) and Stony Brook University's Meghan Gilley (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) have been named America East Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively, in women's soccer. The awards, which were handed out Monday, are the first of the 2009 campaign.
Bonfigli, a junior forward, tallied five points (1 goal, 3 assists) to lead the host Catamounts to their first TD Bank Classic title since 2003 last week. The tournament’s Offensive MVP, Bonfigli assisted on all three goals in UVM’s 3-2 overtime win over Montreal, a Canadian Championship semifinalist in 2008, on Friday. She followed with her fourth career score in a 2-2 tie against Central Connecticut Sunday.
Gilley, a freshman forward, scored her first collegiate goal with 2:46 left in regulation to lead the Seawolves to a 1-1 tie with 23rd-ranked Rutgers on Sunday. The Pennsylvania native corralled a loose ball in the Scarlet Knight box and put it in the left-hand side of the net for the score. Gilley has started both games thus far for SBU and has registered four shots.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (0-2-0, 0-0-0 America East) opened its season on the road in California with a 1-0 loss to Sacramento State on Friday, Aug. 28 … The squad ended the West Coast swing with a 2-1 loss to Pacific on Sunday, Aug. 30 … Head coach Mary-Frances Monroe started nine underclassmen in both contests, including five freshmen in the season opener versus the Hornets … Freshman Maggie DeVerna (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) scored the lone goal for the Great Danes this week, while twin sister Chelsea DeVerna (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville), the 2008 Suffolk County Player of the Year, picked up the assist … Sophomore Cate Crenson (North Salem, N.Y./North Salem) made a career-best 10 saves versus the Tigers … Senior Ashley Tirabassi (Cambridge, Ontario/Monsignor Doyle) needs four goals, three assists and five points to break the all-time school records in each category … The Great Danes will field the youngest roster in the America East Conference and one of the youngest in the nation this season … Even though the team features two seniors, two juniors, nine sophomores and 11 freshmen, the returners have plenty of game experience … Senior co-captains Jaclyn Rosada (Wyckoff, N.J./Ramapo) and Tirabassi as well as junior Teresa Boring (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central), the league’s rookie of the year in 2007, cracked the starting lineup when they were freshmen … In addition, five of the sophomores were regular starters last season … UAlbany hosts Iona on Friday, Sept. 4 at 4 p.m. and Lehigh on Sunday, Sept. 6 at 2 p.m.
Binghamton (0-2-0, America East) began its 2009 season with two road losses at the hands of Delaware and St. Joseph's … The Bearcats lost 3-0 on Friday to Delaware and lost 1-0 on Sunday to St. Joseph's … The young Bearcats opening day starting lineup against Delaware featured five freshmen, and eight freshmen made their collegiate debut in the match … Goalkeepers Jen McEachron (Hoosick Falls, N.Y./Hoosick Falls) and Erin Iman (Bel Air, Md./Fallston/Univ. of Richmond) have split the keeper duties, with both playing a half of each game … Iman made 12 saves on the weekend, including nine stops in the second half against St. Joseph's … BU's leading shot-taker so far as been freshman Kerry Sullivan (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) with four … Sophomore Jennifer Abbate (Northport, N.Y./Northport) leads the team with two shots on goal … The Bearcats will play their third straight road match on Friday at Cornell before making their home debut at the Bearcats Sports Complex on Sunday against Syracuse.
With back-to-back shutout victories in the books, Boston University (2-0-0, 0-0-0 America East) has gotten off to a successful start to the 2009 campaign. Sophomores Jessica Luscinski (Bedford, N.H./Trinity) and Cynthia Warman (Osseo, Minn./Wayazata) provided all the goals BU would need in the season opener vs. Rhode Island, while freshman Megan McGoldrick (Reading, Mass./Reading Memorial) made a splash in her collegiate debut, assisting on Luscinski’s game winner. Three days later, senior Farrell McClernon (West Chester, Pa./Merion Mercy) scored the go-ahead goal and Luscinski struck again with the insurance tally vs. UMass in front of a program-record crowd of 4,963. McGoldrick again assisted on the game winner as BU improved to 2-0 on the season. Senior Janie Reilly (Coral Springs, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) and sophomore Annie Tooley (Denver, Colo./Mullen) split time in between the pipes as BU has now held opponents scoreless for 180 consecutive minutes.
Hartford (1-1-0, 0-0-0 America East) kicked off the 2009 season on the road, splitting games at Wyoming and Northern Colorado. In the season opener on Friday at Wyoming, the Hawks fell behind by a goal in the first half and lost by a 2-0 final. Hartford rebounded on Sunday at Northern Colorado, as redshirt freshman Alex Uscilla (Westport, Conn./Saint Joseph) scored her first career goal and sophomore Lauren Brodeur (Wilbraham, Mass./Wilbraham & Monson Academy) made 12 saves to push the team to victory... Uscilla, a forward, made her Hartford debut at Wyoming. One of head coach John Natale's top recruits last season, she missed all of the 2008 campaign due to an injury she sustained at the end of her high school career... Hartford will next host Iona on Wednesday, September 2 at 6 p.m. The game will be the first of nine home dates for the Hawks at Alumni Stadium. Hartford wraps up the week at Bryant on Sunday, September 6 at 3 p.m.
Maine (1-1-0, 0-0-0) fell to Weber State on Friday before beating Idaho State on Sunday…Against Weber State, Maine had the edge in shots 10-7 and corner kicks 4-1, but could not quite capitalize…Laura Martel (Lewiston, Maine/Lewiston) led the Black Bear attack with six shots, including three on net…Freshman goalie Meagan Price-Leibenzeder (Surrey, British Columbia/Clayton Heights) played well in net, making three saves in her first collegiate match…At gametime, the temperature was in the mid-90’s…Against Idaho State on Sunday, Kelsey Wilson’s (Gorham, Maine/Gorham) goal in the 21st-minute proved to be the game-winner…Wilson scored off an assist from Véronique Fleury (Montreal, Quebec/College Saint Sacrement) who had taken a rocket of a shot and resulted in a rebound for Wilson…Maine added to the lead in the 55th-minute when Hailey Blackburn (York, Maine/York) made a great throw-in that Carolyne Nellis (Quebec City, Quebec/FX Garneau) headed in to give the Black Bears a two-goal cushion…Price-Leibenzeder play excellent in net, making four saves for her first career shutout…Maine handed Idaho State just its sixth loss in the last four seasons at home…Maine continues play on Friday at Dartmouth at 3 p.m. before playing the home opener on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Iona.
UMBC (0-2-0, 0-0-0 America East) dropped its first two games of the season, falling at No. 23 Rutgers, 4-0, on Aug. 25, and at La Salle, 5-0, on Aug. 30… Sophomore goalie Mo Van Vlerah (Ijamsville, Md./Northwest) made 10 saves in two games… Freshman forward Rachel McKee (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron) has taken three of the Retrievers’ seven shots on the season… Five of UMBC’s seven shots have been on goal… The Retrievers conclude their season-opening four-game road trip this week when they take on Bucknell on Sept. 2 and cross-town rival Towson on Sept. 6.
New Hampshjre (1-0-0, 0-0-0 America East) went 1-0-0 last week, blanking Rhode Island, 2-0, on the road Aug. 30 ... senior goalkeeper Ally Yost (Langhorne, Pa.) stopped all five shots she faced en route to her fifth career shutout, and first blanking since Oct. 25, 2007 ... sophomore Alli Rozelle (Stratham, N.H.) scored the game-winning goal in the 37th minute to earn her first collegiate tally ... junior Cassie Guerra (DeWitt, N.Y.) added her second career goal in the 65th minute to give UNH some insurance ... freshman Monique Lamotte (Blackstone, Mass.) assisted on the game winner to pick up her first collegiate point ... the Wildcat defense, which allowed 1.56 goals per contest in 2008, looked solid as a unit of seniors Alex Hastings (Fort Collins, Colo.) and Meg Wiley (Norwell, Mass.), sophomore Kelly Mooney (Canton, Mass.) and freshmen Kelly Spencer (Exeter, N.H.), Chelsey Tewell (York Harbor, Maine) and Lyndsay Pallotta (Hanover, Mass.) played 90 minutes of lockdown defense ... the Wildcats, who have already equaled their number of shutouts from all of last season, open the season at 1-0-0 for the second straight year ... it was UNH’s first win against Rhode Island since a 1-0 blanking in Durham on Sept. 26, 2004, and the first road victory against URI since a 2-1 win Sept. 27, 2002 ... the Wildcats return to action Friday, Sept. 4 when they travel to take on St.
Stony Brook (0-1-1, 0-0-0 America East) tied #23 Rutgers, 1-1, on Sunday night in its only game of the week … freshman Meghan Gilley tied the game at 1-1 with 2:46 left in regulation … it was the first collegiate goal for Gilley … Gilley scored after sophomore Colleen McKenna sent a cross into the box that was deflected by the Rutgers goalkeeper … Gilley then corralled the loose ball and put it in the net … Rutgers had not allowed a goal in its first two games … senior goalkeeper Marisa Viola made 13 saves for the Seawolves and allowed just one goal after Rutgers had scored a combined seven goals in its first two games … it was the third most saves Viola has made in her career … the game against Rutgers was the Seawolves second ever against a ranked opponent … the Seawolves lost a 2-1 overtime decision to #23 Maine in 2006 … SBU will hit the road for two more games this week, taking on East Carolina on Friday before facing off against North Carolina State on Sunday … the Seawolves tied ECU, 1-1, in the teams only other meeting on Oct. 4, 1998 … Stony Brook’s game against NC State on Sunday, will be the programs second over game against an ACC opponent … SBU played at Maryland during the 2006 season.
Vermont (0-0-1, 0-0-0 America East) won the 2009 TD Bank Classic for the first time since 2003 with a 3-2 overtime win over the University of Montreal and a 2-2 double-overtime draw versus Central Connecticut. Junior Gabby Bonfigli (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) was named the offensive MVP of the tournament after registering five points (1 goal, 3 assists) for the Catamounts. Senior Eliza Bradley (Charlotte, Vt./Champlain Valley Union) was named the defensive MVP for the second straight year after recording 15 stops in two games. Of the 13 newcomers on the team this season, 11 made their Catamount debuts over the weekend. Megan Rozumalski (Middleburgh, N.Y./Middleburgh), Katie Deppen (Virginia Beach, Va/Landstown.) and Jess Herbst (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) got the starting nod in both games. Junior Heidi Hassler (Westford, Vt./Mt. Mansfield) scored the game-tying goal in the 84th minute of UVM's match versus Central Connecticut. It was her first career goal as a Catamount. Up next for the Catamounts is a trip to Los Angeles, Calif. where they will compete in the East/West Classic hosted by Loyola Marymount. UVM takes on the hosts on Friday (Sept. 4) at 7 p.m. (EST). Vermont will also face Cal State Northridge on Sunday (Sept. 6) at 4 p.m. (EST). John's (N.Y.) at 7:30 p.m.
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