CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- A Terrier, a Great Dane and a Wildcat are this week's women's lacrosse weekly award winners for the period ending March 7. Boston U. sophomore attacker Hannah Frey (Nyack, N.Y./Nyack) earned the player of the week award, University at Albany senior attacker/midfielder Christine Grueniger (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) took the defensive player of the week honor and the rookie of the week accolade went to New Hampshire's Jenny Simpson (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan).
Frey, a sophomore attacker, led the Terriers to two wins last week, including a victory over #16/18 William & Mary. Frey set a career high in goals with four against Brown, and then matched it in a 15-10 victory over the Tribe. She also earned an assist in each contest to finish a week with eight goals, two assists and 10 points. Frey, an all-rookie team selection a year ago, chipped in two draw controls against Brown.
Grueniger tied a career high with six ground balls and scored three times in her team's 24-2 victory over Niagara. She also added one caused turnover and two draw controls in the effort. Earlier in the week against Hofstra, a team receiving votes in both national polls, Grueniger tallied two goals, one assist, one ground ball and one draw control. For the week she finished with six points, seven ground balls, three draw controls and one caused turnover.
Simpson had a breakout game against Colgate in which she recorded five points on three goals and two assists. All three numbers were career highs. The rookie also tallied three ground balls in that game to garner UNH's America East Player of the Game. Her first goal gave UNH a 3-0 advantage, then her two second-half goals were part of a 5-2 Wildcat run that extended the advantage to 11-7.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (1-1, 0-0 AE) established the program’s Division I record for goals and win margin in a 24-2 victory over Niagara on March 6… The Great Danes previously scored 23 goals against Le Moyne on April 17, 2001… Albany has reached the 20-goal mark seven times at the Division I level… Sophomore Melanie Sosnowski (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) set a single-game record with eight goals and tied another standard with 10 points... Sosnowski tallied five of her team’s opening seven goals… Taylor Frink (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) twice tied a career-best with five points last week… Nikki Branchini (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) scored her third goal of the game against Hofstra to give her team a 14-11 lead with 15:25 left… But the Pride, who were receiving votes in the IWLCA national poll, regrouped with six unanswered for a 17-14 win… Kayla Best (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) extended her goal-scoring streak to 48 consecutive games, the nation’s second-longest mark, by combining for five goals in two games… Jodi Battaglia (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst Central) tied a career-high with three assists vs. Niagara… Ashley Ross (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) made her first collegiate start as a lacrosse goalkeeper at Hofstra… Ross, who made 11 saves, was three-time All-America East netminder as a member of Albany’s field hockey program.
Binghamton women's lacrosse team (0-2, 0-0 AE) lost to visiting University of Connecticut (4-1, 0-0 Big East) 16-12 on a warm Sunday afternoon at the Bearcats Sports Complex. The Huskies started the game red hot scoring the first four goals of the game. Junior Beth Moore broke the run with 16:41 left in the first half to put the Bearcats on the board. Binghamton would finish the half strong, as sophomore Lis Zuern scored two goals in the last two minutes to cut the Husky lead to one, 8-7, going into the half. Binghamton started the second half hungry and took their first lead of the game, 9-8, when Zuern scored her third goal of the night at the 26:30 mark. However the Huskies answered with three straight goals and would not trail again in the game. Binghamton picked up more ground balls, taking a 22-20 edge and made 12 saves to the Huskies 10. However, UConn won the draw control battle, securing 22 to Binghamton's 8. Zuern scored four for the Bearcats and junior Ali Castiglie added three, while freshman Kimberly McGeever scored a pair. Moore, junior Siobhan Menz and freshman Kristen Stone each scored one.
No. 7/12 Boston University (3-0, 0-0 AE) played its first two home games of the 2010 campaign and posted a pair of victories to remain undefeated, as the Terriers are 3-0 to start a season for the first time since 2005… Boston U. earned a 9-5 win over Brown in its home opener on Wednesday before securing a 15-10 victory against No. 18/16 William & Mary on Sunday… After trailing, 4-3, at the half against the Bears, the Terriers scored the first six goals of the second half and held Brown scoreless for a stretch of nearly 27 minutes… On Sunday, Boston U. broke a 4-4 tie by embarking on an 11-3 run spanning the halves to seal the victory…Sophomore Hannah Frey (Nyack, N.Y/Nyack) registered four goal and an assist in both games, while senior Traci Landy (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) scored five goals in the triumph over the Tribe… Senior Xan Weitzel (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) earned five assists against William & Mary, matching a career high she set in last year's double-overtime road victory against the Tribe… Junior Rachel Collins (Winchester, Mass./Winchester) gathered a career-best seven ground balls versus Brown and combined for five points (2g, 3a) in the two wins… Against W&M, freshman Kristen Mogavero (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) scored the first two goals of her collegiate career and classmate Danielle Etrasco (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) recorded two goals and an assist.
UMBC (3-3, 0-0 AE) split a pair of games last week… The Retrievers played their third straight nationally-ranked opponent in as many games on Wednesday, falling at No. 17 Towson, 15-7… Junior midfielder Ashley Stodter (Silver Spring, Md./Good Counsel) led the Retrievers with a career-high four goals… Sophomore attack Alicia Krause (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron/Duquesne) tallied twice… Junior attack Erika Braerman (Fallston, Md./Fallston) added a goal and an assist… Senior goalie Kate Quick (Phoenix, Md./Maryvale Prep) recorded nine saves… UMBC snapped a three-game losing streak with an 18-3 victory over Fresno State on Friday… The Retrievers scored the first 14 goals of the game, including 10 in the first 10 minutes… Senior midfielder Amanda Gable (Mount Airy, Md./Glenelg) tallied a career-high five goals, including the first two of the game and three straight in a span of 2:25 midway through the first half… Braerman and sophomore midfielder Bria Phillips (Davidsonville, Md./Coronado (Calif.)) each tallied six points on three goals and three assists… In all nine Retrievers found the back of the net and 11 recorded points… UMBC outshot the Bulldogs, 33-6, and held an 18-5 advantage on draw controls…Quick has posted a 9.09 goals-against average with 43 saves in six games.
UNH (4-0, 0-0 AE), which entered last week’s IWLCA Poll at #19, recorded a road victory against UMass (11-8) and home win vs. Colgate (16-11) last week… The Wildcats have started the season with four consecutive wins for the first time since the 1989 season… UNH is 3-0 at home this season and has a 16-4 record at Memorial Field since the start of the 2008 season… Junior midfielder Allie Bratton (Windermere, Fla./West Orange) recorded a career-high three goals at UMass; she also tallied five draw controls to earn America East Player of the Game… Freshman attacker Jenny Simpson (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) came off the bench vs. Colgate to record career highs in goals (three), assists (two) and points (five), and be named America East Player of the Game… Freshman defender Ally Stager (Reading, Mass./Reading Memorial) recorded her first career point with an assist vs. CU and also had a goal in that game… Stager helped secure the win vs. UMass by collecting a ground ball with one minute remaining in the game; UNH maintained possession the rest of the way… Dating back to last season, senior attacker Shaunna Kaplan (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) has recorded a point in 13 consecutive games… Both Kaplan and Haley Rausch have tallied multiple points every game.
Stony Brook (1-4, 0-0 AE) lost to Johns Hopkins, 14-10, last Wednesday… Down by three goals in the first half, Stony Brook rallied to tie the game at six, but Johns Hopkins outscored the Seawolves, 8-2, in the second half on its way to a 14-7 win... Juniors Victoria Cable (Oakton, Va./Oakton), Samantha Djaha (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) and Courtney Bertolone (Farmingville, N.Y.Sachem East) each recorded two goals… Djaha's second free-position goal of the game tied the game, 6-6, however the Blue Jays rattled off seven straight to take a 13-6 lead with 5:08 left in the game. Cable's second of the day made it 13-7… The Seawolves are home for three straight home games starting with Massachusetts on Saturday at 1 pm.
The Vermont Catamounts (0-1, 0-0 AE) opened the season with a 22-2 loss at No. 20 Dartmouth. UVM will begin the 2010 campaign with four straight road games, including three consecutive contests versus ranked opponents. This week, the Catamounts are in Jacksonville, Fla. and will face No. 6 Syracuse at 1 p.m. on Monday, then take on Jacksonville on Wednesday at 4 p.m. before returning north to battle Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. on Saturday at 3 p.m.