CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Junior forward Whitney Frates (Woodstock, Vt./Kimball Union Academy) from University of New Hampshire and Marit Westenberg (The Hague, Netherlands) from Fairfield University share the America East field hockey player of the week recognition after the first week of the conference slate. University at Albany freshman forward Daphne Voormolen (Rotterdam, Netherlands) picked up her second Rookie of the Week award of the year.
Frates factored in all three UNH goals to lift the Wildcats to a 3-2, come-from-behind victory on the road at Maine. With the 'Cats trailing 2-0 at halftime, she set up the team's first goal, then scored the game-tying goal with 3:55 remaining and the game-winning goal with five seconds on the clock. The five points were a personal best. Frates now has seven goals and four assists for 18 points on the season.
Westenberg more than doubled her season total with 12 points last week on five goals and two assists. Her biggest outing came on Sunday against St. Joseph's where she played a role in all four tallies of the 4-1 win. The junior recorded the hat trick, then assisted on the fourth and final goal. Westenberg also had a multi-goal effort earlier in the week as the Stag's defeated Brown, 5-2. The junior tallied two goals and an assist against the Bears, and now has 19 points this season.
Voormolen finished the week with three goals and one assist on 13 total shots to lead the Great Danes to a 3-0 week. She struck twice against cross-town rival Siena on Tuesday. On Sunday against Providence, Voormolen scored one goal and assisted on the gamewinner in a 3-2 victory. She is the leading scorer among America East rookies this season with eight goals and 17 points.
Along with conference action, America East teams had great success in non-league play this week. In eight non-conference games, America East teams took seven of them from their opponents. The only loss came at the hands of #13 Duke by a 1-0 score. Seven more non-conference games are scheduled for this week, highlighted by #8 Syracuse's trip to #17 Albany on Sunday.
Team Notebooks:
#17 Albany (10-2 overall, 1-0 America East) won all three games last week, including the conference opener... The Great Danes posted a 9-1 victory over crosstown-rival Siena before shutting out Fairfield, 3-0, and recording a 3-2 win over Providence on the road... The Great Danes have continued to dominate the offensive end of the field, outshooting their three opponents last week, 68-12, including a 47-5 advantage in shots on goal... Albany also held a 32-4 advantage in penalty corners over three opponents last week... Junior forward Christina Patrick (Reading, Pa./Reading Catholic) was one of three players to finish with seven points... Patrick scored three goals, including one game-winner and one penalty stroke, along with one assist, on the week... Freshman Daphne Voormolen (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) also scored three goals and added one assist... Senior Alysia Hough (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton) was the final player with seven points, on three goals and one assist... Goalkeepers Christine Hoffman (Mertztown, Pa./Brandywine Heights) and Kristi Troch (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton) continue to split time in goal for the Great Danes... Troch earned two wins on the week, making one save with a 0.67 goals against average... Hoffman took the third win, making one save while allowing two goals... The Great Danes will return to action over the weekend, hosting America East foe Maine on Saturday for Homecoming Weekend, and taking on #8 Syracuse on Sunday.
#11 Boston University (7-4, 1-0 AE) split its two games during a busy travel weekend... The Terriers posted a convincing 6-0 shutout victory at Vermont on Friday in the America East opener for both teams before dropping a hard-fought 1-0 contest at #13 Duke on Sunday... Five different Terriers scored against the Catamounts with sophomore Nicole van Oosterom (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Chilton Saint James School) leading the way with a pair of goals... Senior Maryette Stuart (Cumberland, Maine/Greely) and sophomore Rachael White (Norfolk, Va./Maury) each recorded a goal and an assist while sophomores Jacinda McLeod (Whangarei, New Zealand/Whangarei Girls) and Leslie Zules (Killingworth, Conn./Haddam-Killingworth) each scored a goal... Junior Kali Cardoza (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) assisted on Stuart's goal...Boston U. outshot UVM, 30-1, and held a 9-0 advantage in corners... The Terriers have now won nine of their last 10 meetings against the Catamounts... On Sunday, Boston U. held a 9-6 shot advantage and earned six of the game's eight corners, but a goal from the Blue Devils in the 46th minute proved to be the difference... Senior goalkeeper Amanda Smith (Avon, Conn./Avon) made three saves combined over the weekend... The Terriers will host two opponents next weekend, beginning with a conference match against Fairfield on Saturday... Boston U. will also face Dartmouth on Sunday... Both games will start at 2 p.m.
The Stags (7-5, 0-1 AE) held #17 University at Albany scoreless in the first half of competition in their first game of the weekend. Fairfeld's defense also held the Great Danes to 17 shots on the game, four less than Albany's current season average of 21.0 shots per game... Junior Maddy Sposito (Ridgefield, Conn.) played the whole game in net, making eight saves... The Fairfield Stags rebounded from their 3-0 loss to Albany the next day as they defeated visting St. Joseph's University, 4-1. Junior Marit Westenberg (The Hague, Netherlands) led the Stags with three goals and an assist on the day, playing a part in each goal scored. Her first tally came unassisted off a rebound... Freshman Nikki McLucas (Glasgow, Scotland) then assisted Westenberg's second goal of the game off a breakaway pass. The assist marked McLucas' first career point for the Stags. Westenberg's second goal marked her third game-winning goal of the season so far. Melanie Leo (Mountaintop, Pa.) assisted Westenberg's third and final goal of the game off a penalty corner to give the Stags a 3-1 advantage... Leo leads Fairfield with seven assists on the season... Senior Amanda Sullivan (Somers, N.Y.) finished a cross from classmate Westenberg to finish out the scoring for the Stags... Sposito played all 70 minutes in goal for the second game in a row, making 11 saves on the Hawks' 16 shots. Fairfield continues America East competition when it travels to play Boston University on October 9 at 1 p.m. It finishes out the weekend hosting non-conference foe Georgetown University at University Field on October 10 at 2 p.m.
Maine (8-3, 0-1 AE) split its two games over the weekend... The Black Bears dropped a close 3-2 America East opener at home to New Hampshire Friday evening before picking up a 6-1 win on the road at Dartmouth... Junior Kelly Newton (Vancouver, B.C.) tallied four goals and one assist in the win at Dartmouth, falling just one point shy of the school record of 10 points in a game, of which she is a co-holder... Newton also tallied an assist in the loss versus UNH, giving her a 10-point weekend ... Fellow junior Jocelyn Mitchell (Kanata, Ontario) scored a goal against UNH, giving her 11 on the year and tying her with Newton for the team lead ... The two are also tied for most overall goals in the conference along with Christina Patrick of Albany... The Black Bears have outshot their opponents, 196-156, and also hold the advantage in penalty corners, 87-64... Maine has won six of their last seven games and have scored over five goals on four separate occasions to average 3.64 goals per game so far this season... Maine returns to America East play Saturday, October 9 when it travels to take on Albany before traveling to take on Brown University on October 10.
UNH (9-3, 1-0 AE) opened the America East portion of its schedule with a 3-2 victory at Maine and concluded a stretch of five consecutive road games with a 2-1 overtime win at Northeastern… The Wildcats, who have won three straight, went 4-1 in their five consecutive road games… This is the team’s best start through 12 games since the 1997 squad also went 9-3… UNH trailed, 2-0, at Maine but rallied on a goal by Hayley Rausch (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) and two by Whitney Frates (Woodstock, Vt./Kimball Union Academy)… Frates scored the game-tying goal with 3:55 remaining and the game-winning goal with five seconds on the clock… She recorded a career-high five points and matched her personal best of two goals… Katherine Nagengast (Westborough, Mass./Westborough) made a career-high 11 saves vs. the Black Bears… UNH also rallied to victory at NU as Casey Pohlmeyer (Millersville, Md./Severna Park) scored the game-tying goal in the first half and Kara Connolly (Mohegan Lake, N.Y./Lakeland) scored at 4:06 of overtime… Half of Connolly’s six goals this season have been game-winning goals … It marked the team’s first OT game of the season; the ‘Cats went 2-0 in overtimes last season and have won four consecutive games decided beyond regulation… UNH, which is 5-0 at Memorial Field this season, puts a seven-game home winning streak on the line on October 6 vs. intrastate rival Dartmouth… The Wildcats have outscored the opposition 14-4, including 6-0 in the second half, with an 82-41 shot advantage at Memorial Field this year.
Vermont (5-7, 0-1 AE) went 1-1 on the week in a pair of home games... The Cats opened America East play on Friday by falling to #11 Boston U, 6-0... Junior Brooke Crane (Lancaster, N.H./White Mountain) made 13 saves in net for the Catamounts... On Sunday Vermont snapped a four-game losing streak by topping Siena at home, 1-0 ... Sophomore Taylor Silvestro (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) scored just 1:28 into the second half to break a scoreless tie and tally what proved to be the gamewinner... Senior Jenna Horowski (Zionsville, Pa./Emmaus) hit a hard ball straight on from five yards outside of the circle that Silvestro was able to get a piece of and direct up and over the Siena keeper... The goal was Silvestro’s team-high sixth of the season and the first career point for Horowski with the assist... Crane earned her second career shut out for the Catamounts by stopping all five shots that she faced... Vermont is now 10-1 all-time against Siena, as Sunday marked the first meeting between the two schools in field hockey since 2002… Sunday’s game wrapped up a three-game homestand for the Catamounts, who will now play only twice at Moulton Winder Field over their final six games of the regular season … Three of Vermont’s five wins have come on a Sunday this year… The Cats are back in action on Saturday when they travel to face UNH (5 p.m.) and then are at Providence on Monday (12 p.m.). l #11 Boston U. Highlights l Siena Highlights l