CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- University of Hartford's Amelia Pereira (Madeira Island, Portugal/Escola Da APEL/Martin Methodist College) and University at Albany's Katie Dunn (Devon, Pa./Conestoga) each had career days and have earned America East women's soccer weekly honors for their efforts. Pereira is the Player of the Week, while Dunn is the Rookie of the Week. The awards for the week ending Oct. 17 were announced Monday afternoon.
Pereira became the first America East player to record an eight-point game in nearly six years as Hartford went 1-1 last week. The sophomore forward/midfielder tallied three goals and two assists in the Hawks’ 6-2 win over Vermont Thursday. With the game tied 1-1 at halftime, Hartford scored five times in the first 30 minutes of the second half, including three goals and an assist by Pereira. The eight-point effort was the most by an America East player since the Catamounts’ Amy Cochran accomplished the feat against Marist. It’s the first time it’s happened in conference play since Maine’s Heather Hathorn tallied as many points against Vermont in 2003.
Dunn helped vault the Great Danes into third place in the conference standings by scoring her first career goal in a 1-0 win over Maine on Thursday. The win was Albany’s first over Maine in 10 all-time meetings. Dunn, a freshman midfielder, scored in the 51st minute of the game to secure the win. She also tallied two shots in the Great Danes’ 1-0 win over UMBC on Sunday, which extended the team’s unbeaten streak to five games. Dunn has started 13 of 16 games she has played in during her rookie campaign.
With just one week left in the regular season there is still plenty at stake. Boston University secured at worst a share of its fourth-straight regular-season title and the No. 1 seed for the upcoming conference championship with a 4-0 win over Binghamton on Sunday. New Hampshire moved into second place with 12 points with two wins last week, including a 3-2 overtime victory over Vermont Sunday. Albany sits just one point behind the Wildcats with 11 points and posting a pair of wins last week as well. Stony Brook follows in fourth place (10 points) with Maine (9), Hartford (8) and Binghamton (7) all bunched together. UMBC and Vermont are tied for eighth with three points apiece and have both been eliminated from the conference championship, which includes the top six teams in the league standings.
Team Notes
Albany (8-6-2, 3-1-2 America East) won both of its matches this week by identical 1-0 scores against Maine and UMBC … The Great Danes are off to their best start in more than 20 years and are in a position to post their first winning season since 1988 ... In addition, the team’s five-match unbeaten streak in America East Conference play is a program record … Katie Dunn (Devon, Pa./Conestoga) tallied her first career goal in the 51st minute, proving to be the difference against Maine … Shayla Bergeron (Hudson, N.H./Alvirne/Duquesne) scored the lone goal in the 88th minute versus UMBC … Breanna Maggio (Ontario, N.Y./Wayne Central) earned both shutouts between the posts … The sophomore goalkeeper leads the league with six clean sheets and also boasts a .787 save percentage and a 1.10 goals against average …Maggio and UAlbany’s back line consisting of Jess Baccaglini (South Side, N.Y./Rockville Centre), Kendra Harrell-Vigil (Avondale, Ariz./Avondale), Amy Harrison (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy), Casey Marks (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland) and Katie Norwood (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) have not allowed a goal in 352:56 ... UAlbany has blanked eight opponents, which is a Division I program record, in 16 matches this fall … The Great Danes, who are 4-0-3 in their last seven America East road matches, visit Boston University on Thursday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. before wrapping up the regular season at home against Vermont on Sunday, Oct. 24 at 2 p.m.
Binghamton (4-10-1, 2-3-1 America East) went 1-1 during the week, picking up a much-needed win at UMBC before succumbing to first-place Boston University ... The Bearcats sit in seventh place with two games remaining and likely need one win in the team’s final two games to keep the program’s playoff streak alive. Binghamton has advanced to the America East tournament six straight years, including last fall’s run to the championship game. In order to accomplish that, Binghamton will have to have success against either second-place New Hampshire or fourth-place Stony Brook. The Bearcats are 4-4-2 all-time against the Wildcats and have won the last two meetings by identical 1-0 scores ... Binghamton is 2-6-1 against their SUNY rival Seawolves with the last win coming in 2005 ... Senior back Stefani Knopick (Endwell, N.Y./Maine-Endwell) was moved to the front line and scored both goals in the 2-1 win at UMBC ... Junior midfielder Mary DeWitte (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield) was named the team’s America East Player of the Game ... At home against Boston, the Bearcats surrendered two goals in each half to the Terriers. Knopick was selected as the Player of the Game.
Boston University (12-5-0, 6-0-0 America East) earned at least a share of the America East regular season title and stretched its winning streak to nine games last week as it defeated Dartmouth, 1-0, and Binghamton, 4-0 ... Last week, the Terriers continued to make headlines as they recorded the program’s 200th win, extended their shutout minutes to 828:02 minutes, tied the record for consecutive victories and now boasts one of the longest shutout streaks in NCAA history, as it is currently in a 12-way tie for 12th place all-time ... On an individual level, graduate student Lisa Kevorkian (Arcadia, Calif./Monrovia) scored her 12th goal of the season and 28th point, which moves her into third place among single-season leaders for goals and fifth for points, while junior Jessica Luscinski’s (Bedford, N.H./Trinity) scored her 17th career goal to give her sole possession of 10th place for career goals and career points ... This week, Boston U. will wrap up the regular season as it hosts Albany (Oct. 21) and Maine (Oct. 24).
Hartford (5-8-3, 2-2-2 America East) split two conference road matches last week, as the Hawks stormed out of Vermont with a 6-2 victory over the Catamounts before being shut out by Maine in Orono, 1-0 ... Against Vermont, the Hawks were led by sophomore Amelia Pereira (Madeira Island, Portugal/Escola da APEL/Martin Methodist College), who put together an astounding eight-point game with three goals and two assists ... Pereira’s day marked the first hat trick of the season for all America East players, and the first eight-point game by a conference player since 2004 ... All three of Pereira’s goals came in a 20-minute span to open the second half, helping the Hawks build a commanding 5-1 lead ... She also assisted on the eventual game-winner, a score by junior Alex Uscilla (Westport, Conn./St. Joseph) in the midst of Pereira’s three-goal stretch ... Two Hawks knocked in their first goals of the season against Vermont ... Sophomore Caitlin Alves (Ludlow, Mass./The Williston Northampton School) scored the Hawks’ first goal off an assist from Pereira ... freshman Nicole Silenok (South Salem, N.Y./John Jay) notched her first collegiate goal, unassisted, to close out the game’s scoring ... Hartford could not battle back from an early 1-0 deficit in its other match last week, a trip to Maine ... The Hawks close out the regular season this week by hosting UMBC on Thursday evening and traveling to New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon.
Maine (7-6-0, 3-3-0 America East) split a pair of America East games last week ... The Black Bears fell to Albany on a failed clearing attempt that was tapped into the net by Katie Dunn ... Maine rebounded on Senior Day and won, 1-0, over Hartford ... Senior Hannah Breton drained the game-winning goal in the first half... Breton controlled a rebounded ball that had hit off the goalie and placed it into the empty net... UMaine is led on offense by Kelsey Wilson ... Wilson has scored six goals this season and added a pair of assists... Nikki Misener leads the team in assists with three ... Maine has had all six America East games decided by one goal ... The Black Bears are 6-4 in games decided by a goal this season ... Meagan Price-Leibenzeder has played a big role in keeping the games close... She has allowed only one goal or fewer in her last six starts in net ... Price-Leibenzeder has started 10 games this season and allowed just 11 goals while posting three shutouts... The Black Bears will hit the road next week for a pair of games... Maine will play at Stony Brook on Thursday and at Boston U. Sunday.
UMBC (2-13-1, 1-6-0 America East) dropped a pair of America East contests last week… The Retrievers fell to Binghamton, 2-1, on Thursday, in their home finale… UMBC fell behind early, allowing two goals in the first 3:30 of action… Freshman midfielder Nicole Clark (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) sliced the deficit in half with her second career goal in the 12th minute… The goal was UMBC’s first in more than 400 minutes, dating to the conference opener at Vermont on Sept. 26… The Retrievers had a number of opportunities to even the score but could not capitalize… Freshman goalie Lauren Kadet (Oakville, Ontario/St. Thomas Aquinas) finished with seven saves… UMBC fell at Albany, 1-0, on Sunday… The Great Danes scored the game-winner in the 88th minute… Kadet equaled her career high with 11 saves, matching her total from her collegiate debut at Drexel on Aug. 22… She now has 103 saves on the year, the seventh-most in a single season in UMBC history and just eight shy of Nadine Henchcliffe’s rookie record… Kadet leads America East with 6.87 saves per game and ranks third with an .811 save percentage… Four Retrievers have a team-best two goals on the season, including Clark and classmate Amy Savage (Ottawa, Ontario/Sir Wilfrid Laurier), who lead the team with six points… UMBC concludes its season on Thursday at America East rival Hartford.
New Hampshire (8-6-3, 4-2-0 America East) was victorious in a pair of games last week as it recorded home wins against Stony Brook (2-1) on Thursday and Vermont (3-2/OT) on Sunday ... The Wildcats have now won five of their last six, including three in a row ...They are 6-2-1 over their last nine ... UNH is two games over .500 this late in the season for the first time since Oct. 25, 2007 ... It is also two games over .500 in the conference for the first time since Oct. 16, 2008 ... Sophomore Monique Lamotte (Tampa, Fla./Freedom) finally broke out last week, matching her output of five points on two goals and an assist from last year’s All-Conference Second Team and All-Rookie Team campaign ... The sophomore netted the game-winner in the 38th minute against Stony Brook ... She then picked up where she left off against Vermont, scoring just 3:40 into the match to stake the Wildcats to a 1-0 lead ... Then with 3:53 remaining in overtime, Lamotte used a nifty flip pass to feed senior Carole LeBlanc (Grand-Digue, New Brunswick/Brewster Academy), who buried the game-winner ... It was LeBlanc’s fourth goal in six games and her third game-winner in the last five matches ... junior Jordyn Krall (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) recorded a career-high three points with a goal and an assist against Vermont ... sophomore Chelsea Kuss (Warners, N.Y./West Genesee) added an assist against Vermont for her team-leading 12th point of the season ... She now has a point in seven of her last 10 games, including five of her last six.
Stony Brook (4-9-2, 3-2-1 America East) lost its only game of the week, falling to host New Hampshire, 2-1, on Thursday afternoon ... sophomore Taryn Schoenbeck (Newark, Del.) put the Seawolves on top just 11:44 into the game with her third goal of the season ... Schoenbeck has now recorded a point in three straight games ... New Hampshire tied the game just six minutes later and then took the lead for good on a Monique Lamotte goal ... the Seawolves nearly tied it on three occassions in the second as Schoenbeck and junior Colleen McKenna (Manorville, N.Y.) each hit the crossbar ... freshman Larissa Nysch (Dresher, Pa.) nearly tied in the final minute of regulation as she won a loose ball in the box and sent a shot towards the left post that was deflected just wide by UNH keeper Erica Correa ... freshman goalkeeper Chelsea Morales (Temecula, Calif.) made five saves for Stony Brook ... UNH nearly took the lead in the opening minutes on a Carole LeBlanc shot from the top of the 18-yard box. But a diving Morales was able to deflect the shot off the post before the Seawolves cleared the ball away. Morales made another spectacular save minutes later, diving to grab a header from Ashley Avitabile ... Stony Brook outshot New Hampshire, 18-14.
Vermont (2-14-0, 1-6-0 America East) fell 6-2 to Hartford and suffered a 3-2 overtime loss at New Hampshire this week ... Emily Milbank (Shelburne, Vt./Champlain Valley Union) converted back-to-back penalty kicks in the matches versus Hartford and UNH ... They were her first two goals of the year ... Freshman Haley Marks (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield) scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season against the Hawks ... Of UVM’s 12 goals this season Marks has scored five ... Sophomore Alyssa Kelly (Southampton, N.J./Seneca) made a season-high 10 stops against the Wildcats ... Vermont wraps up the regular season hosting Dartmouth on Tuesday (Oct. 19) and travels to Albany on Sunday (Oct. 31).