CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- With a big win over conference foe Boston University on Saturday, University of New Hampshire earned both weekly field hockey awards on Monday for the week ending October 17. Wildcat junior Hayley Rausch (Severna Park. Md./Severna Park) took home Player of the Week honors, while the conference named freshman back Megan Bozek (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Lakeland) the Rookie of the Week.
Rausch was the difference-maker in UNH's 3-2 win against #15 Boston U. which kept the Wildcats atop the league standings. With two goals and an assist, the junior factored into all three goals and marked a career-high five points. Rausch gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead, assisted on the goal that put the team back in front, 2-1, and broke the 2-2 tie with 3:15 remaining in the game on the game-winning goal. Rausch finished the game with four shots, including three on target. With seven points in conference games, Rausch is tied for third in the America East statistical rankings.
Bozek was an instrumental part of UNH's defensive unit that limited Boston U.'s high-scoring attack below its season average to just two goals and the #14 Boston College Eagles to one second-half shot and eight shots the entire game. She has started all 16 games for UNH and has three goals this season. Bozek is the second Wildcat rookie honored this season.
Team Notebooks:
#18 Albany (12-4 overall, 3-0 in America East) split two games over the weekend... The Great Danes defeated conference rival Vermont, 3-0, on the road, before falling to #9 American, 2-0, at home... Christina Patrick (Reading, Pa./Reading Catholic) assisted on two goals in the win over Vermont... Freshmen Corrine McConville (Lehighton, Pa./Lehigton) and Daphne Voormolen (Rotterdam, The Netherlands), along with senior Alysia Hough (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton) all scored against the Catamounts... Suzy Clephane (Auckland, New Zealand/Diocesian) and Ashlyn Bach (Coopersburg, Pa./Southern Lehigh) added assists... Christine Hoffman (Mertztown, Pa./Brandywine Heights) and Kristi Troch (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton) continue to split time in goal for the Great Danes... Hoffman picked up both decisions over the weekend, while Troch made four saves in the two games... Albany will return to action on Sunday, Oct. 24, hosting America East rival Boston U. in the final regular-season home game at 3 p.m.
#15 Boston University (9-5, 2-1 AE) fell in its only game of the week, as New Hampshire pulled off a 3-2 upset of the Terriers on Saturday in Durham... It was the first time since 2003 that Boston U. fell to the Wildcats, as the Terriers had won eight straight games in the series... Sophomore Jacinda McLeod (Whangarei, New Zealand/Whangarei Girls) had a hand in both Terrier goals, as she scored her fifth tally of the season in the first half before assisting on junior Andrea Greene's (Santiago, Chile/Universidad Diego Portales) team-leading 12th goal of the season in the second half... Greene is now tied for 10th on Boston U.'s single-season goals list... Sophomore Nicole Van Oosterom (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Chilton Saint James School) assisted on McLeod's goal... Senior goalkeeper Amanda Smith (Avon, Conn./Avon) recorded four saves in the loss and junior Giovanna Monaco (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) added a defensive save... The Terriers will try to secure their seventh straight 10-win season when they play host to #5 Connecticut on Wednesday (Oct. 20) at 3 p.m... Boston U. will visit Albany for a conference contest on Sunday (Oct. 24) at 3 p.m.
The Fairfield Stags (8-8, 0-3 AE) dropped two this week. Their game against Cal was sent into overtime but was postponed after the first extra time due to darkness. The game resumed the next day at Providence College where the Stags outlasted the Golden Bears for another 15-minute overtime period, sending the game into penalty strokes. Cal was able to edge Fairfield in strokes to take the win. In regulation time, junior Marit Westenberg (The Hague, Netherlands) and freshman Hillary Fitts (Wilmington, Del.) both had goals for Fairfield while Amanda Sullivan (Somers, N.Y.) and Melanie Leo (Mountaintop, Pa.) each ended the game with an assist... The Stags had to play the next day, October 17 against America East foe Maine but were unable to overcome a four-goal halftime deficit... Freshman Jill Keeney (Springfield, Pa.) recorded her first career goal off a pass from Anne Nieuwenhuis (Leidschendem, Netherlands) to put the Stags on the board in the second half... Westenberg finished off the scoring for Fairfield in the 60th minute with her 10th goal of the season off a penalty corner... The Maine Black Bears topped the Stags, 6-2, in their third conference game of the season... Fairfield University returns to action next weekend as it continues conference play against visiting New Hampshire on October 22 at 4 p.m. It turns around and plays October 24 on University Field against Yale at 1 p.m.
Maine (11-4, 1-2 AE) picked up its first America East victory on Sunday as it defeated Fairfield by a score of 6-2... The win moves Maine's winning streak to three games and four of its last five... Kelly Newton (Vancouver, British Columbia) and Jocelyn Mitchell (Kanata, Ontario) each had a pair of goals for the Black Bears... Mitchell now has a goal in her last three games and pushes her consecutive games with a point streak to four ... For Newton it was the eighth multiple point game this season as she too has a four-game point streak ... Maine's six-goal performance against Fairfield marked the fifth time this season the Black Bears have scored six or more goals in a contest... The Black Bears are outscoring their opponents by a 51-21 margin, including a 28-8 advantage in the first half... Maine returns to action next weekend with a contest at Vermont on Saturday before hosting Hofstra on Senior Day, Oct. 24... The Black Bears will honor seven seniors before the game against Hofstra.
UNH (11-5, 3-0 AE) split a pair of games against nationally-ranked teams last weekend with a 3-2 victory against #15 Boston U. and a 2-1 road loss to #14 Boston College… With the win against Boston U., the Wildcats remained in a tie atop the America East standings and improved to 7-1 at home this season… Hayley Rausch (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) factored in all three goals vs. the Terriers; she matched her personal best of two goals and also had an assist for a career-high five points… Rausch has been extremely productive at Memorial Field – four of her seven goals and seven of eight assists have come at home… Whitney Frates (Woodstock, Vt./Kimball Union Academy) has recorded a point each of the last four games and in six of seven; she has seven goals and three assists in that seven-game span… In eight home games, Katherine Nagengast (Westborough, Mass./Westborough) has a 1.26 GAA and .787 save percentage… UNH has taken a 1-0 lead in nine of 16 games and has gone on to win all nine… The Wildcats have outscored the opposition 22-13 in the second half. l UNH vs. Boston U. Highlights l
Vermont (5-10, 0-3 AE) dropped its only game of the week, falling at home to #18 Albany, 3-0, on Saturday... The Catamounts came out and looked sharp to open the game, moving the ball well up and down the field against a nationally-ranked squad... Vermont had a great scoring opportunity only 3:30 into the second half when junior Mackenzie Williams (Rome, N.Y./Rome Free Academy) and senior Brittanie Booker (Wilmington, Del./Mount Pleasant) worked a nice give-and-go in the circle, but Williams' shot was turned aside by Albany keeper Kristi Troch... Junior Brooke Crane (Lancaster, N.H./White Mountain) made 10 stops in goal for Vermont... Vermont returns to action next Saturday when the Cats host Maine starting at 1 p.m... The game will mark the final home contest for Catamount seniors Crane, Booker, Julie Moy (Fishkill, N.Y./John Jay), Joanna Berger (Rhinebeck, N.Y./Rhinebeck) and Jenna Horowski (Zionville, Pa./Emmaus), who will each be honored prior to the contest... Saturday marked only the third time in 14 career meetings between the two teams that the game was not decided by one goal … Freshmen Sally Snickenberger (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) and Maddy Ostrander (Bryn Mawr, Pa./Radnor) made their first career starts in the game for Vermont… Albany was the second ranked team that Vermont has faced this year, joining Boston U.
l Vermont vs. Albany Highlights l