CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- The America East player and defensive players of the week, seniors Traci Landy (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) and Rachel Klein (Forest Hill, Md./Roland Park), were both instrumental in keeping the Boston University Terriers undefeated in league play last week. Landy and Klein earned the awards for the week ending April 11. Joining the pair of Terriers this week is University of New Hampshire freshman Amber Casiano (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor), who was named the league's rookie of the week.
Landy, who leads the conference in goals with 35 on the year, netted eight tallies last week in two games. She opened up the week with a hat trick in the highly-anticipated matchup with New Hampshire, scoring the first goal of the game. Landy also potted two second-half goals, allowing the Terriers to pull away for a 10-4 victory. At UMBC, the senior attacker scored a game-high five goals in another Terrier win, peppering the Retriever goalkeeper with 10 shots. Landy also finished the week with a ground ball, a caused turnover and three draw controls.
Klein put together a fantastic week in goal for the Terriers in two victories last week. For the week she tallied 22 stops, a goals-against-average of 6.00, a .647 save percentage and three ground balls. Klein stopped 15 shots against the Wildcats on Wednesday, including 10 in the first half. She allowed just four New Hampshire goals, and held the visitors scoreless in the first period of play. Klein followed up that performance with a seven-save outing at UMBC. She allowed just eight goals to the Retrievers, who were averaging over 12 goals per game entering the contest. This is Klein's second such honor of the season.
Casiano, a rookie midfielder, recorded three points last week for the Wildcats, all on goals. She also tallied two ground balls, two caused turnovers and three draw controls in two games. Casiano notched one of the Wildcats' four goals against Boston U. during the week, while also adding a caused turnover and three controlled draws. In the matchup at Stony Brook on Saturday, the rookie found the back of the net two times and recorded two ground balls and a caused turnover.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (9-1, AE 3-0) opened its league schedule with three consecutive wins for the first time since joining America East in 2002 following a 17-5 victory over Stony Brook on April 7… The Great Danes are second in the nation in scoring offense at 16.9 goals per game… Kayla Best (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) scored four times, including two in each half, against the Seawolves. Best extended her goal-scoring streak to 56 straight games, the nation’s second-longest. The senior midfielder moved to third place on the program’s all-time scoring list with 183 points (152 G, 31 A)… Taylor Frink (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) had two goals and two assists in her last outing. Frink has scored four-plus points seven times this season… Goalkeeper Ashley Ross (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) made 10 saves against Stony Brook… Albany led 9-0 at halftime and held an opponent scoreless in one period for the first time since March 9, 2008… Ross is second among the NCAA leaders in save percentage (.567)… Defensive midfielder Nikki Branchini (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) accounted for seven draw controls, three ground balls and three caused turnovers vs. Stony Brook. Branchini is second nationally in draw controls (5.89 pg)… Freshman Rachael Burek (Rensselaer, N.Y./Columbia) had a break-out performance with two goals and one assist vs. Stony Brook… Defender Jenn Primeau (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) scored her first goal as a collegian.
Binghamton (1-9, 0-3 AE) picked up the first win of the season defeating Bucknell at home 18-7... Junior attack Ali Castiglie scored five goals and had three assists to lead the Bearcats in the win... In the second game of the week, Binghamton fell to Vermont, 22-14, at Moulton Winder Field... Sophomore Lis Zuern led the Bearcats with four goals and added two assists.
No. 20 Boston University (7-6, 3-0 AE) won a pair of conference games to remain unbeaten in league play, topping New Hampshire, 10-4, on Wednesday and beating UMBC by a 12-8 margin on Saturday… The Terriers have now won 26 straight games against America East opponents and 19 straight regular-season conference games… Senior Traci Landy (Seaford, N.Y.) led the Terriers offensively with a hat trick against New Hampshire and five goals at UMBC… Landy now leads the America East with 35 goals…Senior McKinley Curro (Amherst, N.H.), who scored a hat trick against the Wildcats and chipped in two goals against UMBC, has now scored multiple goals in six straight games… Freshman Danielle Etrasco (Massapequa, N.Y.) scored in each game and now boasts a seven-game goal-scoring streak… Senior Rachel Klein (Forest Hill, Md.) was outstanding against New Hampshire, making 15 saves while allowing only four goals… Boston University has now won 12 straight games against New Hampshire and has won four straight against UMBC… The Terriers begin a three-game homestand this week, hosting #17 Boston College for a non-conference tilt on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and Stony Brook on Saturday for an America East game at 1 p.m….The Terriers are 11-4-1 in the all-time series against the Eagles and are 8-1 in the all-time series against the Seawolves.
UMBC (9-5, 2-2 AE) split a pair of America East home contests last week… The Retrievers’ nine wins on the season match their entire win total from the 2009 campaign as they are off to their best start since 2002… The Retrievers defeated Vermont, 15-9, on April 7, outscoring the Catamounts, 10-3, in the second stanza to overcome a 6-5 halftime deficit… Junior attack Erika Braerman (Fallston, Md./Fallston) equaled her career high with five goals, including three during UMBC’s second-half surge… Sophomore midfielder Bria Phillips (Davidsonville, Md./Coronado (Calif.)) scored all three of her goals in the second period… Senior goalie Kate Quick (Phoenix, Md./Maryvale Prep) recorded a season-high 11 saves… The Retrievers fell to No. 17 Boston University, 12-8, on April 10… Trailing by seven late in the first half, UMBC scored five straight goals to pull to within two, 9-7, midway through the second stanza… Phillips led the Retrievers with three goals, all in the second half… Quick made eight saves and allowed just three second-half goals… After scoring just five goals in her first 10 games this season, Phillips has tallied 11 times in her last four contests… Braerman leads UMBC with 29 goals, 18 assists and 47 points… The Retrievers are averaging 12.27 goals per game, their most since 2003… In its lone game this week, UMBC hosts America East rival Albany on April 18 in the 2010 finale at UMBC Stadium.
UNH (8-4, 2-1 AE) went 1-1 in league play last week with a 10-4 loss at nationally-ranked Boston U. and a 12-8 victory at Stony Brook… Shaunna Kaplan (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) moved into third place on UNH’s career assist leaderboard with one at Boston U.; she now has 72 assists… Kaplan tallied a season-high seven points against Stony Brook by matching her season highs in both goals (three) and assists (four)… Kaplan has an assist in five consecutive games; she has nine goals and 10 assists in that span… Jenny Simpson (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) extended her point-scoring streak to seven games with a goal against Boston U. and an assist at SBU… Kate Keagins (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) has scored a goal each of the last five games; she has seven goals and one assist in that span… Allie Duclos (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor) tallied game highs in both ground balls (four) and draw controls (five) vs. Stony Brook… Duclos now leads the team in ground balls and ranks second in draw controls… UNH has scored in double digits seven of 12 games and has won all seven games; the ‘Cats are 1-4 when scoring in single figures… The 1985 UNH women’s lax team will be honored during halftime of the April 17 game vs. Binghamton in recognition of the 25th anniversary of its NCAA national championship.
Stony Brook (3-10, 1-3 AE) lost to Albany, 17-5, and New Hampshire, 12-8… Freshman Nicolle Moran (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) led the Seawolves with four goals total in the two games… Junior Mickey Cahill (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) led the team with 13 saves vs. the Great Danes… Seniors Kelley Sweeney (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) and Bridgid Callahan (Hanover, Md./Institute of Notre Dame) were honored prior to the game against the Wildcats… Cahill tied a season-high with 14 saves against UNH… Stony Brook jumped out to a 3-1 lead vs. the #17 team in the country, but four straight goals in the second half gave New Hampshire a four-goal lead… The Seawolves got as close as three the rest of the way… SBU is at #20 Boston University on Saturday afternoon.
Vermont (3-8, 1-3 AE) earned its first win in league play with a 22-14 victory over Binghamton on Saturday. The Catamounts scored a season-high 22 goals against the Bearcats and were led by sophomore Samantha Stern's (Cherry Hills, N.J./Cherry Hill East) six-point effort behind four goals and two assists... UVM controlled the draw, out pacing Binghamton, 26-12, in the game... Junior Megan MacDonald (Wayland, Mass./Wayland) collected a season-high nine draws and became the second Catamount in the program's history to register 100 career draws. MacDonald inched closer to the 100-point milestone and begins the week five points shy... Senior Sara Buxton (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) surpassed the 90-goal mark with five on the week... Sophomore defender Catie Izzo (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) ranks 27th among the national leaders in caused turnovers (1.78 pg) and added two more on the week to bring her season total to 18... Vermont closes out a three-game homestand hosting LeMoyne on Wednesday (April 14) at 3 p.m. and California on Sunday (April 18) at 12 p.m.