CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - With just two weeks left in the regular season, University of Hartford remains one of six unbeaten women's soccer schools left in the country. Junior forward/midfielder Caitlin Alves (Ludlow, Mass./The Williston Northampton School) made sure of that by leading the Hawks to a win last week and earned America East Player of the Week honors for her effort. University at Albany's Jackie Ubert (Amityville, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) paced her team to a pair of weeks to earn Rookie of the Week accolades. The awards for the week ending Oct. 3 were announced Monday afternoon.
Alves racked up five points in Hartford’s lone game of the week, a 3-0 victory over Stony Brook on Thursday which extended the Hawks’ season-long unbeaten streak to 13 games (11-0-2). Hartford is one of just six unbeaten teams remaining in the nation. Alves, a junior forward/midfielder, scored twice and added an assist in the win, setting up teammate Mary Beth Hamilton in the 23rd minute and adding scores of her own in the 52nd and 72nd minutes. The the league leader with seven goals, Alves is also tied for the conference lead with 17 points.
Ubert led Albany to a crucial two-win week by allowing just one goal and making 13 saves in victories over Binghamton and Vermont. The freshman goalkeeper tied a career high with nine saves in Thursday’s 1-0 win over the Bearcats, which snapped the Great Danes’ seven-game losing skid. She then made four saves in a 2-1 win over Vermont on Sunday to vault Albany into fifth place in the America East standings at 2-2. Ubert, who had a 0.50 goals-against average and .929 save percentage on the week, ranks fourth among league leaders in save percentage (.816) and is second with 5.71 saves per game.
Boston University, which was ranked 21st in the most recent NSCAA national poll, is also unbeaten in league play at 5-0-0. The Terriers had wins over New Hampshire (1-0) and Binghamton (4-1) last week. Senior Tiya Gallegos scored in each game.
Team Notes
Albany (4-9-0, AE 2-2-0) picked up two conference wins this past week by defeating Binghamton, 1-0, and Vermont, 2-1, to enhance its postseason chances ... with the two wins, the Great Danes sit in fifth place in the conference standings with four games remaining (at UMBC, vs. Maine, vs. Hartford, at Stony Brook) ... junior midfielder Casey Marks (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland) netted her second game-winning goal of the season in the 15th minute vs. Binghamton ... both senior forward Katie Grant (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia/Auburn Drive) and sophomore midfielder Katie Dunn (Devon, Pa./Conestoga) scored their first goals of the season which factored into the win at Vermont ... Dunn’s goal in the 85th minute vs. Vermont was the game-winner to give the Great Danes a two-match conference win streak ... freshman goalkeeper Jackie Ubert (Amityville, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) allowed only one goal in two starting assignments after not playing in her team’s previous two conference matches ... Ubert tallied 13 saves in two games and accrued a .929 save percentage for the week ... Ubert recorded her first complete shutout of the season vs. Vermont ... the Great Danes continue their 2011 season at UMBC (Oct. 13) and then return to Varsity Field on Homecoming Weekend to meet Maine (Oct. 15).
Binghamton (4-8-1, 1-3-1 AE) dropped both its games this week and has now gone winless since opening conference play with a victory over Maine. With three games remaining in the regular season, the Bearcats sit in sixth place with the top six advancing to the America East tournament ... in the midweek game, Binghamton outshot host Albany 17-7 but surrendered the game’s lone goal in the 15th minute and lost 1-0 for the seventh time this season ... on Sunday, the 21st-ranked Terriers took the drama out of the game early with three first-half goals on 20 shots and posted a 4-1 home win. It was the first time this season that the Bearcats have allowed more than one goal in a game ... junior forward Candice Rowland (Brewerton, N.Y./Central Square) netted her first collegiate goal on a nice individual dribbling effort in the 13th minute. Sophomore keeper Carrie Martin (Cincinnati, Ohio/McNicholas) made eight saves ... Binghamton has a week off before playing at New Hampshire on Sunday. The all-time series between the two programs is knotted at 4-4-2.
Boston University (12-2-1, 5-0-0 AE) extended its winning streak to seven games with a 1-0 victory at New Hampshire followed by a 4-1 home win against Binghamton ... Senior Tiya Gallegos (Lakewood, Calif./Mayfair) notched the lone goal against the Wildcats in the 61st minute and senior keeper Alice Binns (Dorchester, Mass./Beaver Country Day) stopped four shots for her fourth shutout of the season and the team’s eighth overall ... in Sunday’s win over the Bearcats, four different Terriers scored ... Senior Jessica Luscinski (Bedford, N.H./Trinity) notched two assists and a goal to improve to No. 4 all-time in the Boston U. record book for points with 73 ... sophomore Kylie Strom (Endicott, N.Y./Union Endicott) posted her fourth game-winning goal of the season and also added an assist ...after assisting on Gallegos’ goal against the Wildcats, senior Brittany Heist (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) recorded a goal on Sunday ... sophomore Kelly King (Solon, Ohio/Laurel) stopped six attempts in the win ... with a perfect 7-0 record at home, the Terriers will first visit Stony Brook on Thursday (Oct. 13) before hosting UMBC on Sunday (Oct. 16).
With just one game last week, Hartford (11-0-2, 4-0-0 AE) kept its unbeaten season alive with a 3-0 victory, the team’s third by that score in the last four games, over the Stony Brook Seawolves on Thursday night ... junior Caitlin Alves (Ludlow, Mass./The Williston Northampton School) needed just that one game to finish the week with a five-point performance finishing with two goals and an assist, contributing on all three of the Hawks goals ... Alves’ first point of the game came in the 23rd minute when she found fifth-year senior Mary Beth Hamilton (Columbia, Conn./Mercy) on a cross into the middle of the box for what would prove to be the game winner ... Alves then posted two tallies of her own 20 minutes apart in the 52nd and 72nd minute, connecting with Caroline Dixon (Manchester, England/Oklahoma City Univ.) on the first insurance goal and rookie Chanel Johnson (New London, Conn./New London) on the second insurance goal ... the assist for Johnson is the second-straight game the freshman has finished with a helper ... Alves five points vaulted her into the team lead with seven goals, while she is now tied with junior Amelia Pereira (Madeira Island, Portugal/Escola da APEL) ... sophomore keeper Erin Quinlan (Saugus, Mass./The Governors Acad./Syracuse) completed her 10th shutout of the season with six saves, facing seven total shots ... the Hawks will welcome a pair of conference teams into West Hartford this week with Maine visiting Al-Marzook Field on Thursday (6 p.m.) and Vermont visiting Alumni Stadium for Senior Day on Sunday (2 p.m.).
Maine (4-6-1, 1-3-0 AE) split a pair of games on the week ... The Black Bears fell to Vermont, 3-1, before rebounding to defeat UMBC 2-1 on Sunday afternoon ... Maine won for the first time this season while allowing a goal.... The previous three wins had all come via shutouts ... senior Sady Tobin (Paul Smiths, N.Y.) scored both of Maine’s goals in 2-1 win over UMBC ... It was the first two-goal game of Tobin’s career ... She had scored just one goal in 57 previous games ... rookie Jordan Pellerin (Waterville, Maine) leads the team in assists with three ... Sophomore Nikki Misener (Burlington, Ontario) tallied her first career goal against Vermont on Oct. 6 ... Maine keeper Meagan Price-Leibenzeder (Surrey, British Columbia) picked up her 20th career victory in the win over UMBC on Sunday afternoon ... Maine hits the road for games at Hartford and Albany next weekend.
UMBC (0-11-2, 0-3-1 AE) dropped its lone game last week, falling at Maine, 2-1, on Sunday … Junior forward Rachel McKee (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron) scored her fourth goal in the last three games in the 42nd minute, tying the game just 14 seconds after the Black Bears had taken the lead … It was her team-best sixth goal of the season … Sophomore goalie Lauren Kadet (Oakville, Ontario/St. Thomas Aquinas) recorded six saves, moving into a tie with Christine Bacinski for fifth place all-time at UMBC with 173 saves in her career… Senior Mo Van Vlerah (Germantown, Md./Northwest) is eighth with 160… McKee’s six goals and 12 points on the year are the most by a Retriever since 2005 … She has also taken a team-best 38 shots this season … UMBC hosts America East rival Albany on Thursday, then visits defending league champion Boston University on Sunday.
New Hampshire (3-10-1, 1-3-0 AE) finished its most recent week of action dropping a pair of decisions to Boston University (Oct. 6) and Stony Brook (Oct. 9) ... sophomore goalkeeper Erica Correa (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) posted her second highest save total of the season with eight stops in net, but the Wildcats fell to the Seawolves 1-0 on the road ... Stony Brook controlled the early portion of the contest, claiming the advantage in both shots (8-5) and shots on goal (5-2) in the first half of play ... Despite the disadvantage in shots, UNH held the edge in corner kicks in the first stanza with a 3-1 advantage ... New Hampshire struck back in the second frame, drawing even with the Seawolves in shots with each squad posting nine apiece ... Monique Lamotte (Tampa, Fla./Freedom) led UNH with three shots, including one on goal attempt ... In its previous outing UNH fell to Boston U., 1-0, at Bremner Field ... Both teams remained scoreless in the first frame, but the Terriers held the edge in both shots (14-0) and corner kicks (9-0) ... Boston U. also posted four shots on goal in the first stanza, with four different Terriers notching on goal attempts ... Despite the early disadvantages, UNH came out strong in the second frame notching seven shots, six of which were on goal ... The ‘Cats also limited BU’s attack, allowing seven shots and only one on goal attempt in the frame ... Jordyn Krall (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) led New Hampshire with three shots, all of which were on goal ... The Wildcats are back in action when they take on the University of Vermont Thursday, Oct. 13 (3 p.m.) at Centennial Field.
Stony Brook (4-9-1, 2-2-1 AE) split a pair of games last week, losing to Hartford on Thursday and defeating New Hampshire on Sunday ... the Seawolves fell 3-0 in West Hartford, Conn. but bounced back with a shutout of the Wildcats, 1-0, at LaValle Stadium ... Junior Taryn Schoenbeck (Newark, Del./Padua Academy) scored her team-leading third goal of the season in the 14th minute on Sunday to help the Seawolves even their America East record at 2-2-1 ... Schoenbeck took a pass from sophomore Larissa Nysch (Dresher, Pa./Upper Dublin) and fired it home from the right wing, inside the left post ... sophomore Chelsea Morales (Temecula, Calif./Temecula Valley) posted seven saves, including a diving stop on a header with only 90 seconds remaining to preserve the shutout against UNH ... the clean-sheet was Stony Brook’s second of the season after blanking Binghamton on Oct. 2 ... the Seawolves have allowed just five goals in five conference games ... Stony Brook returns to action on Thursday, Oct. 13 against Boston University at LaValle Stadium at 7 p.m.
Vermont (4-7-4, 2-2-1 AE) split its pair of games this past week ... The Catamounts earned a 3-1 victory over Maine behind a pair of goals from freshman Alexandra Dezenzo (Randolph, N.J. / Randolph) ... UVM’s 3-1 win is the largest margin of victory over Maine since 1995 (W, 4-1) … The three goals are the most the Catamounts have scored in a game since a 6-5 victory over UMBC in 2009 … the Catamounts had an early 1-0 lead on the Great Danes, but Albany netted the game-winner in the 85th minute to hand UVM its first loss of the season at Centennial Field ... Vermont’s four home wins are the most since 2006 ... Dezenzo leads the team in scoring with five goals and 11 points ... sophomore Ellie Mills (Arlington, Va. / Washington-Lee) scored her fourth goal of the year in the loss to Albany and is second on the team in scoring ... UVM wraps up a three-game homestand hosting UNH at 3 p.m. on Thursday (Oct. 13) and travels to Hartford on Sunday (Oct. 16).