CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- As America East field hockey teams geared up for the upcoming conference portion of the season with a tough slate of games last week, University at Albany picked up its first win of the season against a nationally-ranked foe due in huge part to Player of the Week Nicole Savage (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./James M. Coughlin). University of New Hampshire's Melyssa Woods (Glen Falls, N.Y./Glen Falls) also picked up a weekly award as the Rookie of the Week. Both awards recognize players for the week ending September 27.
Savage scored three goals in two games last week, leading Albany to an undefeated week. Two of those goals, both unassisted, came in a 2-1 win over #19 Providence on Sunday. The senior forward also recorded the gamewinner against Colgate earlier in the week, taking an assist from freshman Nina Walters just before the half. Savage recorded nine shots on goal in the two games. This is her third career weekly award from the conference and second player of the week award.
Woods, who has played an instrumental role in UNH's midfield all season long, recorded her first career points with a one-goal, one-assist effort at Davidson on Friday. Her goal at 2:27 gave UNH a 1-0 lead and proved to be the game-winning goal. She also set up the team's third goal of the game, which produced a 3-0 advantage at 9:16.
America East squads played seven nationally-ranked teams in all last week. Five of those games came down to just a single goal, and two of them went into overtime. The America East Conference slate of games begins this weekend with Boston University, New Hampshire and Albany hosting Vermont, Maine and Fairfield on Saturday. Two more ranked opponents are on the schedule for Sunday as the Terriers travel crosstown to take on #12 Duke at Boston College and the Great Danes bus upstate to face #6 Syracuse.
Team Notebooks:
UAlbany (7-2, 0-0 America East) went undefeated last week with a 3-1 win over Colgate and a 2-1 victory over #19 Providence… The win over the Friars was the Great Danes’ first win over a ranked team this season… Senior forward Nicole Savage (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./James M. Coughlin) scored three goals in the two games, including both gamewinners… She tallied the winning goal against Colgate just before the half, taking an assist from freshman Nina Walters (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette)… Savage then scored both goals in a 2-1 win over #19 Providence at home with two unassisted marks in the first half… She recorded nine shots on goal in the two games… Walters had assists on Savages’ gamewinner and Christina Patrick’s goal that set the final margin against Colgate… Patrick (Reading, Pa./Reading Catholic) finished with two shots on goal for the week… Goalkeepers Christine Hoffman (Mertztown, Pa./Brandywine Heights) and Kristi Troch (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton) continue to split time in the cage for the Great Danes… Hoffman made four saves without allowing a goal in 70 minutes of play, while Troch made three saves with two goals allowed… UAlbany will return to action over the weekend, opening up America East Conference play on Saturday, hosting Fairfield, before traveling to Syracuse on Sunday.
Boston University (3-7, 0-0 AE) traveled to Virginia to face a pair of
top-15 squads in No. 4 Virginia and No. 15 Old Dominion... After
dropping a 2-0 decision to the undefeated Cavaliers on Friday, the
Terriers suffered a heart-breaking 2-1 double-overtime loss to the
Monarchs on Sunday... Boston U. was the first team this season to
outshoot and out-corner Virginia in the first half and was also the
first opponent to hold the Cavaliers without a corner in the opening
half... Junior Allie Dolce (Jamestown, R.I./North Kingstown) opened the
scoring against ODU at the 9:05 mark with an unassisted tally and now
has a team-high 15 points on five goals and five assists... The
Terriers outshot the Monarchs, 10-3, in the opening half and held onto
their 1-0 lead until the 63rd minute, when ODU tied the game and sent
it to overtime... The Monarchs won it with a goal off a corner at the
93-minute mark... Junior goalkeeper Amanda Smith (Avon, Conn./Avon)
made nine saves on the weekend and matched her career high of six
against the Monarchs... The Terriers will open America East play on
Saturday (Oct. 3) when they play host to Vermont for an 11 a.m. contest
... On Sunday (Oct. 4), Boston U. will host No. 12 Duke at Boston
College beginning at 1 p.m.
Fairfield (3-6, 0-0 AE) played its first
road games in nearly a month when it traveled to Columbia and Holy
Cross last week...The Stags came up short in both games, including a
narrow 1-0 margin against the Crusaders... Michelle Onofrio scored a
pair of goals last week, her first career points. The junior tipped in
both goals off initial shots from penalty corners... Goalkeeper Caitlin
O'Donnell made six saves during the week, which gives her an average of
7.5 saves per game. She allowed just one goal in the loss to Holy
Cross, the third time in nine games she has allowed one goal or less in
a contest... Marit Westenberg, Anne Nieuwenhuis and Melanie Leo are
tied for the team lead in scoring with eight points each. Westenberg
has four goals, while Neuwenhuis has three goals and two assists. Leo
leads the team with four assists, which compliments her two goals on
the season... Julianne Bosse picked up a defensive save in the Columbia
game, her first of the season. The Stags have collected at least one
defensive save in four of their nine games this season, highlighted by
a season-best four saves against Villanova.
Maine (7-3, 0-0 AE)
played two games this weekend against nationally-ranked teams. Maine
faced off against #18 Northwestern on Saturday afternoon in East
Lansing, Michigan where they lost a tough contest 3-2 in overtime. The
Black Bears were down 2-0 until the 43:33 mark when Jocelyn Mitchell
(Kanata, Ontario/Earl of March Secondary) scored her team-leading 12th
goal of the season off a penalty corner from Lelia Sacre. Eight-minutes
later, junior Brittney Cummings (Belfast, Maine/Belfast) tied the game
for the Black Bears when she slammed home her second goal of the
season. The Black Bears fell in overtime when Chelsea Armstrong
completed her hat-trick with the game winning goal. Brittney Fleck
(Vancouver, British Columbia/Crofton House School) made 10 saves in the
cage for the Black Bears. Maine continued its tough weekend schedule
against #8 Michigan State Sunday. The Black Bears scored the first goal
of the game at 3:41 when Kelly Newton (Vancouver, British
Columbia/Crofton House School) scored from a deflection off a Kallie
Aldus (Belfast, Maine/Belfast) shot. Manouk Vernij tied the game for
the Spartans at 44:09. Floor Rijpma would score the gamewinner for MSU
at 68:12 off a corner. Fleck made nine saves in the game for the Black
Bears as her record drops to 7-3 on the season. Fleck now has a GAA of
1.72 with 52 saves for a .765 save percentage. Newton leads the team in
total points with 28 (11G, 6A). Stephanie Gardiner (Vancouver, British
Columbia/Crofton House School) leads the team with seven assists on the
year.
New Hampshire (5-3, 0-0 AE) went 1-1 last week as UNH
prevailed, 6-0, in a battle of Wildcats at Davidson College - extending
its winning streak to four games - and then lost the battle of Durham
teams at Duke University (7-1)... Melyssa Woods (Glens Falls,
N.Y./Glens Falls) recorded her first career points with a one-goal,
one-assist effort at Davidson; she gave UNH a 1-0 lead in the third
minute - that proved to be the game-winning goal - and tallied an
assist less than seven minutes later... Woods' tally at 2:27 marked the
quickest goal scored by UNH since Aug. 31, 2007, when the Wildcats
scored 38 seconds into their 3-2 victory against Colgate ... Meg Shea
(Melrose, Mass.) extended her goal-scoring streak to seven games vs. DC
and then pushed her point-scoring streak to eight games with an assist
at Duke... Katherine Nagengast (Westborough, Mass./Westborough)
recorded her second shutout of the season - and career - at Davidson...
UNH led 5-0 at halftime vs. Davidson to mark the first time the ‘Cats
scored 5+ goals in a half since Oct. 28, 2006, when they scored six
first-half goals at UMBC; the six goals and six goal margin of victory
are also team highs since that date... UNH limited DC to two shots; the
last time a Wildcat opponent recorded less than five shots in a game
was Oct. 16, 2007 (also Davidson; three)... all three losses have been
to nationally-ranked teams.
Vermont (1-8, 0-0 AE) dropped its
only game of the week, falling to #10 Massachusetts, 2-1 ... Senior
Chelsea Stevenson (Crosswicks, N.J./North Burlington Regional) scored
her third goal in the last four games for the Catamounts... Classmate
Megan Maynard (Waterbury Center, Vt./Hardwick) picked up her first
assist of the season on the goal... Sophomore Sarah Becque
(Westborough, Mass./Westborough) kept the game tied in the 43rd minute
when she earned her team-high third defensive save of the season,
denying a Minutewomen corner attempt... UMass was the third ranked team
that Vermont has played this season (Ohio State and Boston College)...
Stevenson and Maynard have combined for all seven of Vermont's goals
this year... The Catamounts have six defensive saves as a team this
season... Vermont has a busy week on tap with three games on the
schedule... The Cats host Dartmouth on Wednesday, then open America
East play Saturday at Boston University ... UVM wraps up the weekend
with a road game at Brown on Sunday.
America East: Developing Champions in Academics, Athletics and Leadership