CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- University of New Hampshire's Chelsea Kuss (Warners, N.Y./West Genesee) and University of Maine's Lisa Bijman (Brantford, Ontario/St. John's) have earned America East women's soccer weekly awards after leading their respective teams to unbeaten weeks. Kuss was named Player of the Week, while Bijman took home Rookie of the Week accolades. The awards for the week ending Oct. 3 were announced Monday afternoon.
Kuss tallied four points to lead the Wildcats to a win and a tie last week. The sophomore forward scored and added an assist in her team’s 2-2 double-overtime tie against Brown on Wednesday. Her goal, which came in the 68th minute, tied the game at two. Kuss then set up the game-winning score in UNH’s 2-0 victory over UMBC on Sunday, assisting on Carole LeBlanc’s goal just 90 seconds into the contest. She leads the league with four assists and is tied for seventh with eight points.
Bijman scored the game-winning goal in the Black Bears’ lone game of the week, a 2-1 victory over Vermont on Thursday. The score, her second of the year, came on a blast from 20 yards out in the 68th minute. The win gave Maine its first America East win of the season and was their fourth in five games overall. Bijman, who was also named Rookie of the Week on Aug. 23, has two goals this season and has started every game on the back line for Maine, which ranks second in the conference with 14 goals allowed.
After three conference games, Boston University and University of Hartford are the lone unbeaten teams with the Terriers standing at 3-0 and Hartford at 1-0-2.
Team Notes
Albany (5-6-1, 0-1-1 America East) opened up America East play by dropping a 2-0 decision to Stony Brook on Thursday, Sept. 30 before battling Hartford to a 0-0 double-overtime tie on Sunday, Oct. 2 … Albany has outshot its last six opponents, which included an 18-7 margin against Hartford, but the offense has only managed to score three goals during the stretch … Sophomore Breanna Maggio extended her Division I program record for career shutouts by earning her sixth clean sheet against the Hawks … She made three saves over the first 30 minutes before the back line consisting of Jess Baccaglini (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side), Kendra Harrell-Vigil (Avondale, Ariz./Westview), Casey Marks (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland) and Katie Norwood (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) did not allow the Hawk forwards to take a shot on net the rest of the way … Maggio is tied for second in the league with three shutouts this year … Shayla Bergeron (Hudson, N.H./Alvirne/Duquesne) continues to lead the team in scoring … She has five goals and 10 points … Since the 2009 season, UAlbany is 3-0-2 in conference road matches and 0-5-0 against America East competition at Varsity Field … The team’s last home victory in league action came against New Hampshire by a 3-1 decision on Oct. 5, 2008 … UAlbany hosts New Hampshire on Thursday, Oct. 7 at 3 p.m. before visiting Binghamton on Sunday, Oct. 10 at 2 p.m.
Binghamton (3-9-0, 1-2-0 America East) dropped both its games during the week, both by narrow 1-0 margins. The Bearcats have now been blanked five times in their last seven games and have mustered just two goals in the team’s last seven games ... Binghamton surrendered goals in the 70th minute in losses at Hartford and Vermont ... In Burlington, Binghamton built a 21-8 command in shots but couldn’t convert ... Sophomore defender Alyssa Staubitz (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) was named the team’s America East Player of the Game against Hartford ... Sophomore forward Sarah Furminger (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) earned the honor at Vermont... The Bearcats look to return to winning ways against SUNY rival Albany on Sunday ... Binghamton is 8-1 all-time against the Great Danes.
Boston University (8-5-0, 3-0-0 America East) recorded back-to-back shutouts last week as it defeated UMBC, 1-0, and Stony Brook, 4-0, to stay in first place in the America East standings ... Boasting a five-game winning streak, Boston U. recently broke a 10-year-old school record for consecutive shutouts, which now stands at five ... On Thursday, the Terriers traveled to Baltimore to face the Retrievers and freshman Kylie Strom (Endicott, N.Y./Union Endicott) provided the game’s lone goal in the 45th minute off a failed clear attempt ... On Sunday, Boston U. returned to the confines of Nickerson Field as it produced its highest offensive output of the season with a four-goal victory ... Freshman Emma Clark (York, Maine/York) scored a goal and added an assist, while graduate student Lisa Kevorkian (Arcadia, Calif./Monrovia), and juniors Tiya Gallegos (Lakewood, Calif./Mayfair) and Krista Minto (Nissequogue, N.Y./Smithtown) also found the back of the net ... Head coach Nancy Feldman is now three victories away from her 200th at Boston University. The Terriers will take on Hartford on Thursday (Oct. 7) in Connecticut at 7 p.m.
Hartford (4-6-3, 1-0-2 America East) remains unbeaten in America East play as they opened a three-game homestand last week with a 1-0 victory over Binghamton and a scoreless draw with Albany ... Breeanna Robinson (East Hampstead, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) scored her fifth goal of the season to give Hartford its victory on Thursday night, finishing a perfectly-placed pass from Amelia Pereira (Madeira Island, Portugal/Escola da APEL/Martin Methodist College) ... Robinson was the America East Player of the Match that night ... goalkeeper Lauren Brodeur (Wilbraham, Mass./Wilbraham Monson Academy) registered her first back-to-back shutouts since earning victories over Albany and Vermont in the final two games of last season ... Brodeur already has five shutouts this season, tying her total from last year ... the Hawks’ defense has not let up more than one goal in a game in seven of its last eight contests, including all three America East contests ... defender Christiana Lang (Huntington Beach, Calif./Temecula Valley/Cypress College) took home America East Player of the Match recognition on Sunday ... the Hawks conclude their three-game homestand by hosting Boston University on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in their only match this week.
Maine (5-4-0, 1-1-0 America East) came from behind last week
for a 2-1 win over Vermont in the America East home opener ... Wilson
continues to lead UMaine with six goals and 14 points ... She also leads
the Black Bears with 34 shots ... Maine has spread out its scoring this
season and has had seven different Black Bears score this year ...
Maine has had only four of their 16 goals come from forwards this
season... The rest came off the foot of three midfielders and two
defenders ... Freshmen scored both goals for Maine in its first America
East victory of the season ... Lisa Bijman drilled the game-winner in
the 65th minute and Maggie Malone tied it up with a late first-half
goal... It was the first of Malone’s career... Maine controlled the ball
and put a lot of pressure on the Catamounts, but Alyssa Kelly made
eight saves to hold the Black Bears to just two goals on 23 shots ...
Maine outshot Vermont 23-6 and tallied nine corners but was hampered by
nine offside calls ... Kelsey Wilson led the team with six shots...
Carolyne Nellis recorded five shots with three coming on goal ...
Malone, who had recorded three shots all season before this game,
tallied three against Vermont... Iris Gunnarsdottir and the UMaine
defense held the Catamounts to six shots and one goal... Gunnarsdottir
made three saves including two in the second half... The Black Bears
return to action October 7th at UMBC and will face New Hampshire at home
on Sunday.
UMBC (2-9-1, 1-2-0 America East) dropped a pair of America East contests last week … The Retrievers fell to defending conference champion Boston University, 1-0, at home on Thursday … Freshman goalie Lauren Kadet (Oakville, Ontario/St. Thomas Aquinas) made eight saves … The Retrievers had several good scoring opportunities against the Terriers, as sophomore forward Rachel McKee (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron) twice hit the post … UMBC then fell at New Hampshire, 2-0, on Sunday, despite outshooting the Wildcats, 15-13 … Kadet stopped seven shots… McKee and freshman forward Amy Savage (Ottawa, Ontario/Sir Wilfrid Laurier) each took a game-high four shots … Nine different players have scored a goal for the Retrievers this season … Savage leads UMBC with six points on two goals and two assists… Retriever rookies have accounted for 15 of UMBC’s 34 points on the season … Despite nine losses, the Retrievers have been in nearly every game, losing just twice by more than a goal… The Retrievers open a three-game home stand this week, hosting America East rivals Maine and Stony Brook on Thursday and Sunday, respectively.
New Hampshire (5-5-3, 1-1-0 America East) went 1-0-1 last week, wrapping up non-conference play with a 2-2 tie at Brown and earning its first conference win with a 2-0 victory at home against UMBC ... The Wildcats shut out UMBC at home for the fourth consecutive match and has now held the Retrievers scoreless in Durham for the last 373:50 dating back to 2003 ... The ‘Cats, who are now 7-1 all-time versus UMBC, are 4-1 at home versus the Retrievers with a 0.20 GAA and a .947 save percentage ... Freshman Erica Correa (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) made nine saves for the third shutout of her career ... Senior Carole LeBlanc (Grand-Digue, New Brunswick/Brewster Academy) netted the game winner just 90 seconds in with her second goal in as many matches ... Junior Stephanie Gilkenson (Cranston, R.I./La Salle Academy) sealed the game with her first collegiate goal in the 42nd minute ... sophomores Chelsea Kuss (Warners, N.Y./West Genesee) and Drea Nogueira (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) recorded assists on the respective goals to remain tied for the team lead in points with eight ... Kuss leads the conference in assists (4) ... Correa leads the league in saves (82), is second in save percentage (.820) and and shutouts (3), and fourth in GAA (1.30) ... LeBlanc scored in the 53rd minute against Brown to tie the game at one ... Kuss earned an assist on the play and then lifted the ‘Cats to the tie with a goal in the 68th minute ... Correa stopped six shots and held Brown scoreless for the final 55:58 to preserve the tie.
Stony Brook (2-8-2, 1-1-1 America East) split a pair of road conference games this week, defeating Albany on Thursday before falling to Boston University on Sunday ... The 2-0 victory over Albany extended the Seawolves’ unbeaten streak to three ... The Seawolves outscored their opponents 7-2 during that stretch ... The Seawolves had scored four goal over their first eight games ... Freshman goalkeeper Chelsea Morales (Temecula, Calif.) made a season-high nine saves against Albany in recording her first career shutout ... Junior Colleen McKenna (Manorville, N.Y.) scored the game-winning goal in the 22nd minute ... It was her first goal of the season and the 11th of her career ... she is now just two goals from entering the program’s top-10 in all-time goals ... Junior Dominique Adamo (Ramsey, N.J.) assisted on McKenna’s goal ... She is now second on the team with six points (two goals, two assists) ... Freshman Tess Hagenlock (Bozeman, Montana) added a goal in the 78th minute against Albany ... It was her first career goal ... Freshman Caitline Pfeiffer (Holland, N.Y.) assisted on Hagenlock’s goal ... It was her first career point ... Morales also made nine saves in the Seawolves 4-0 loss to first-place Boston University on Sunday.
Vermont (2-10-0, 1-2-0 America East) freshman forward Haley Marks (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield) scored in the 70th minute to lift UVM past Binghamton, 1-0 ... The win snapped UVM’s 10-game losing streak and the Catamounts picked up their first league win of the year ... Marks leads the team in scoring with four goals ... As a team Vermont has tallied eight on the year ... Alyssa Kelly (Southampton, N.J./Seneca) made eight stops in the win over the Bearcats and picked up her first career shutout ... The Catamounts stand at 2-10 overall and 1-1 in America East ... UVM travels to Stony Brook on Thursday (Oct. 7) at 7 p.m. and hosts Boston University on Sunday (Oct. 10) at 1 p.m. at Centennial Field ... Prior to the Boston U game UVM will honor its senior class.