CAMBRIDGE, Mass.
- Two of America East's top scorers in men's soccer are this week's
award winners with Stony Brook's Berian Gobeil Cruz (Montreal
Quebec/Laurier Macdonald) earning Player of the Week honors after
enjoying a five-point game and University at Albany's Pomare Te Anau
scoring a key goal to garner Rookie of the Week accolades. The awards
for the week ending Oct. 9 were announced Monday afternoon.
Gobeil Cruz contributed on all three of Stony Brook’s goals and racked
up five points in a 3-2 win over Vermont Friday. The junior forward
scored twice, including the game winner with just six minutes remaining
in regulation, and added an assist to give the Seawolves their fourth
straight win and a 2-0 start in America East for the first time in
program history. Gobeil Cruz, who also scored in the 15th minute and set
up a score in the 30th, has tallied all six of his goals this season
over his last six games. He leads America East with those six goals and
also his 14 points.
Te Anau helped Albany secure a crucial point in conference play as he
scored his team’s lone goal in a 1-1 double-overtime tie with Hartford
on Saturday. With his team trailing 1-0, the freshman midfielder sent
home a free kick from just outside the box in the 68th minute to tie the
score. Te Anau, who also earned Rookie of the Week honors on Sept. 6,
leads all America East rookies and is tied for fourth overall in points
(11), tied for third in goals (4) and tied for seventh in assists (3).
Along with Stony Brook, UMBC sits atop the league standings at a perfect
2-0. The Retrievers upended Boston U. on Saturday and are unbeaten
through two league games for the first time since 2005. Also on
Saturday, New Hampshire beat Binghamton, 3-0, behind a pair of goals
from Steven Palumbo. The Wildcats and Retrievers will meet on national
television Friday night (Fox Soccer Channel) in Baltimore.
Team Notes
Albany (4-6-1, 0-1-1 AE) dropped its non-conference match on
Tuesday, Oct. 4 at Colgate, 3-0 ... the Great Danes then grabbed a point
in America East play with a double-overtime tie vs. Hartford, 1-1 on
Saturday, Oct. 8 ... The tie puts the Great Danes at 0-1-1 and in sixth
place in the conference standings ... freshman midfielder Pomare Te Anau
(Auckland, New Zealand/Mt. Albert Grammar) netted Albany’s lone goal
this past week ... Te Anau’s game-tying goal in the 68th minute vs.
Hartford secured the point for the Great Danes ... Te Anau, the
Auckland, New Zealand native, now has four goals and 11 points in total
on the season, both totals lead all America East freshmen ... Junior
goalkeeper Scott Kessler (Jericho, N.Y./ Marist) got his second start of
the season vs. Colgate ... Kessler recorded six saves on nine chances
... Senior goalkeeper Adrian Foncette (Arima, Trinidad/ Fatima) tallied
seven saves on eight chances vs. Hartford ... Foncette’s 45 saves puts
him second in the conference behind UMBC’s Dan Louisignau’s 56 ... With
his 45 saves, Foncette is now 29 away from passing former conference
goalkeeper of the year Bouna Coundoul for third all-time in UAlbany
history in total saves ... Albany continues the 2011 season with a pair
of road matches against Stony Brook (Oct. 12) and Binghamton (Oct. 15).
Binghamton (4-7-0, 0-2-0 AE) will play four of its final six regular
season games at the Bearcats Sports Complex, starting on Tuesday
against defending conference champion UMBC ... in Binghamton’s last home
game against a reigning America East champion, it defeated Boston
University 2-1 in 2009 in a game televised nationally by FOX Soccer
Channel ... the Bearcats continue to lead the America East in attendance
with 1,238 fans per game.
Boston University (5-6-0, 1-1-0 AE) split its two games at home last
week with a 1-0 victory over nationally-ranked Providence on Tuesday
before dropping a 1-0 decision to UMBC ... Senior Stephen Knox (Arima,
Trinidad/Fatima College (HS)) scored in the 88th minute against the
Friars for his third goal and second game winner of the season ...
Freshman Taylor Washington (Somers, N.Y./Rye Country Day School) and
sophomore Anthony Ciccone (Medford, N.J./Sparta) assisted on the score
... A day after being named America East Rookie of the Week, freshman
Nick Thomson (Cramlington, England/Cramlington Learning Village) stopped
one shot for his third shutout of the season ... The Terriers improved
to 1-3 against the Big East after dropping hard-fought 1-0 decisions to
UConn and St. John’s along with a 2-1 overtime loss to Seton Hall ...
Boston U. had a 12-11 advantage in shots and 8-3 edge in corners but
could not break through the Retrievers’ backline ... UMBC took advantage
of a Terrier turnover in the 73rd minute for the victory ... Boston U.
will next visit Vermont on Wednesday (Oct. 12) before hosting Stony
Brook on Saturday (Oct. 15).
Hartford (3-7-3, 0-1-1 AE) went without a win last week, first
dropping a 3-2 decision at Army in double overtime on Wednesday evening
before scoring a 1-1 draw at Albany on Saturday ... at Army, the Hawks
netted two first half goals but could not hold on to the lead as the
Black Knights rallied for three unaswered to a score the double overtime
win ... Sophomore transfer David Bernhardsson (Tjorn,
Sweden/Katrinelunds Gymnasiet/UW-Green Bay) netted his second goal on
the season in the 23rd minute and rookie Connor Yeaney (Marietta,
Ga./Wheeler) followed suit just 115 seconds later with his first goal as
a collegian ... After netting two second half goals, Army scored the
game winner 69 seconds in to the final OT ... At Albany, Anthony Santaga
(Green Bay, Wisc./GB Notre Dame Academy/UW-Green Bay) got on the
scoreboard first in the 43rd minute however Albany countered with a goal
of its own in the 68th minute ... Despite combining to outshoot the
Great Danes 6-1 in the extra periods, the Hawks were unable to put away
the game-winner ... the tie snapped a two-game losing skid for Hartford
... Ten of the Hawks’ 15 goals this season have been netted by newcomers
while 26 of their 40 points (65-percent) have been credited to this
year’s incoming class ... Hartford wraps up its three game road trip on
Tuesday at New Hampshire (3 p.m.) before returning home to face Vermont
on Saturday (7 p.m.).
UMBC (5-3-3, 2-0-0 AE) senior forward Kingsley Onwuka (Baltimore,
Md./Kenwood/CCBC-Essex) scored the game-winning goal in the 73rd minute,
leading the America East defending champions over the 2011 preseason
favorite Boston U. Terriers, 1-0 on Saturday... It was Onwuka’s third
goal of the year and third in the last five games ... All of his goals
have been scored on the road ... The Retrievers have started 2-0-0 in
America East play for the second time in nine league seasons and the
first time since a 3-0-0 start in 2005. Onwuka’s score was his third
goal of the season as he and sophomore linemate Pete Caringi III (Perry
Hall, Md./Calvert Hall) worked a two-on-two passing play ... Onwuka
finished with a 12-yard shot that beat Terrier netminder Nick Thomson
... Twelve of UMBC’s 13 goals this season have occurred in the second
half ... The Retriever defense held the hosts without a shot on goal in
the final 69 minutes of play ... UMBC senior netminder Dan Louisignau
(Wilmington, Del./Concord/U. Virginia) made three saves to post his
second consecutive shutout and fifth of the season ... the Retrievers
played in a scoreless first half for the ninth time in 11 contests ...
the victory was UMBC’s third in the last four meetings at Nickerson
Field ... The all-time series is now deadlocked at 4-4-1 ... The
Retrievers are now 5-0-1 on Saturdays in 2011 ... UMBC played Bucknell
to a scoreless draw on Oct. 4 ... It was the Retrievers’ first scoreless
draw of the season ... UMBC heads right back to the road when they
visit America East rival Binghamton on Oct. 11, then return home to face
UNH in the rematch of the 2010 title game on Oct. 14 ... The game will
be nationally televised by the Fox Soccer Channel.
New Hampshire (5-6-0, 1-1-0 AE) finished its most recent week of
action with a 1-1 record ... the Wildcats capped off the week with a 3-0
victory over Binghamton (Oct. 8) at Bremner Field to earn their first
conference win of the season ... Steven Palumbo (Kingston, N.H./Sanborn
Regional) punched in a pair of goals to lead the ‘Cats to victory ... It
is the first time Palumbo has scored multiple goals in a game in his
career and also the first time a Wildcat has achieved this feat since
Dylan George scored two goals against Binghamton on Oct. 28, 2009 ...
The midfielder currently ranks second on the squad with seven points on
three goals and one assist ... Robert Palumbo (Kingston, N.H./Sanborn
Regional) collected assists on both scores ... Ugochukwu Uche (Ann
Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) also earned an assist in the match ... Ryan
McNamara (West Nyack, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep) scored UNH’s other goal of
the contest, picking up his first collegiate goal of his career ... Brad
Hilton (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack) tallied an assist on the play ...
Travis Worra (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) earned his fourth shutout of the
season in the win, finishing with three saves ... The Wildcats have
shut out their opponent in four of the last six games ... New Hampshire
outshot Binghamton 21-6 in the contest, a mark that stands as its
highest shot total of the season ... UNH has posted double-digit shots
in seven of the last eight games ... The ‘Cats also held the edge in
corner kicks 8-6, including a 6-3 advantage in the second frame ... In
UNH’s previous contest against Bradley (Oct. 3), the Wildcats fell to
the Braves 2-1 at Bremner Field ... Uche scored the squad’s lone goal of
the contest ... Hilton set up the score with an assist ... Bradley
finished the contest with an 18-11 advantage in shots and an 8-3 edge in
corner kicks ... Robert Palumbo led UNH with three shots, while Steven
Palumbo and Uche both tallied a pair of shots ... The Wildcats are back
in action Tuesday, Oct. 11 (3 p.m.) when they take on Hartford
University at Lewis Fields.
Stony Brook (6-4-2, 2-0-0), winner of five of its last six games,
defeated Vermont last Friday night to improve to 2-0 in America East,
the first time in program history the team has won its first two
conference matches of the season ... only one other time has the team
been unbeaten in its first two games: 2005, the first time Stony Brook
won the conference title ... Stony Brook had fallen behind Vermont 2-1,
meaning the victory qualifies as the team’s fourth comeback win of the
season ... after scoring only four goals in their first six matches, the
Seawolves have now scored 14 goals in their last six matches ... with
the win at home against the Catamounts, Stony Brook is now 6-0-0
all-time against Vermont at home ... junior forward Berian Gobeil Cruz
(Montreal, Quebec) was a big factor in the win, contributing to all
three goals in a five-point evening ... he scored the first goal of the
match to put the Seawolves on top and then assisted on the game-tying
goal late in the first half ... he secured the win with the game-winning
goal with six minutes remaining in regulation ... Gobeil Cruz has now
scored a team-best six goals and 14 points this season ... he has all
six of his goals over the last six matches and is tied with Kyle
Schlesinger (Selden, N.Y.) for most game-winning goals with two ...
Leonardo Fernandes (Sao Paulo, Brazil) notched a goal and an assist in
the win and joins Gobeil Cruz in double-figure points with a 4-3-11 line
... Gobeil Cruz and Fernandes each scored the 17th goal of their
careers, tying them both with Wilson Pun (1991-94) for 10th all-time in
Stony Brook history ... sophomore Will Casey (Setauket, N.Y.) assisted
on Gobeil Cruz’s first goal, his second helper of the year ... Stony
Brook has two matches this week, at home against Albany Wednesday and at
Boston University Saturday.
Vermont (6-5-0, 1-1-0 AE) suffered a pair of losses on the week ...
the Catamounts dropped a 2-0 decision at Dartmouth in the final
non-league game of the season ... UVM also fell 3-2 at Stony Brook to
even it’s league record to 1-1 ... senior Joe Losier (Glastonbury, Conn.
/ Glastonbury) scored a pair of goals against the Seawolves, but it
wasn’t enough to lift UVM to the win ... it was the second time in three
games that Losier scored multiple goals in a contest ... he is one of
seven players in America East with a multi-goal game this season ...
Losier is tied with classmate Yannick Lewis (Toronto, Ontario / Bramalea
Secondary) for the team lead in scoring, they both have eight points on
four goals ... Juan Peralta (Queens, N.Y. / Ulster Community College)
also has eight points on the year, including a team-leading four assists
... the Catamounts host Boston U. on Wednesday (Oct. 12) and travel to
Hartford on Saturday (Oct. 15).