Cambridge, Mass.-- UMBC's Erika Braerman (Fallston, Md./Fallston) won the first America East Women's Lacrosse Player of the Week award of the 2011 season with her eight-point performance against George Mason. Teammate sophomore Jamie Fahey (Baldwin, Md./Loch Raven) took home the Defensive Player of the Week award, and Stony Brook University freshman attack Alyssa Cardillo (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) earned the Rookie of the Week recognition.
Braerman led the Retrievers to a season-opening 19-7 victory on February 11 with a career-high eight points on five goals and three assists. The five goals, which also matched her career high, came on just five shots. A senior captain who earned all-conference second-team honors last season after leading the Retrievers with 54 points, Braerman also added a ground ball, a draw control and a caused turnover against the Patriots.
The reigning America East Rookie of the Year, Fahey picked up where she left off last season, leading the Retrievers on the defensive end to a 19-7 season-opening victory over George Mason. Fahey picked up four ground balls, caused a career-high four turnovers and won a pair of draw controls.
Cardillo had a big collegiate debut with a team-high five points at Colgate and then a team-high six points in the home-opening win over Manhattan. She produced three goals and eight assists on the week, serving as one of the team's top two feeders. In the win over Manhattan, Cardillo scored the first goal of the day and then assisted on a goal from Victoria Cable. She then assisted on three of Melissa Cook's four goals.
Team Notebooks:
Albany has seven starters returning from a squad that captured its first America East Conference regular-season crown one year ago… John Battaglino was promoted to head coach after serving in an associate coaching position last season. Syracuse graduates Jessica Davos and Katie Rowan are members of his staff as assistants… Nikki Branchini (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) earned IWLCA third-team All-America recognition as a junior. The America East Player of the Year was third nationally with 4.93 draw controls per game, plus sixth in ground balls (3.27 pg) and ninth in caused turnovers (2.07 pg)… Mel Rorie (30 goals, 4 assists), a first-team All-America East midfielder, tallied 30 goals and four assists. Rorie will move among the program’s top 10 in career goals this spring… Attacker Taylor Frink (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) and defender Jenn Primeau (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) were second-team all-conference selections… Frink, who led the league in scoring at 3.44 points per game, set Division I program records for points (55) and assists (25)… Senior attack Jodi Battaglia (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst Central) is one of three returning players with 80-plus career points… Albany ranked second nationally in scoring (15.1 goals per game), plus was fourth in scoring margin and sixth in scoring defense during the 2010 campaign... The Great Danes set a school record with 13 victories, a mark that had stood since 1998… Albany was rated fourth among the most improved Division I programs last year.
The Binghamton University women's lacrosse program got off to a rough start in its season opener, losing to host Louisville, 18-4... The Bearcats dropped their second straight season opener to Louisville, losing last year 19-8 at home... Binghamton has never won a season opener going 0-10 since the program started in 2002... Lis Zuern (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse), the Bearcats' lone bright spot, scored four goals on the day, making her the only Binghamton player to score a point (two goals were unassisted, two were free position)... Zuern's four goals were a career-high... Up next for the Bearcats is a road trip to Storrs, Connecticut to take on the University of Connecticut on Friday, Feb. 25. Face-off is set for 3 p.m.
America East preseason favorite and six-time defending conference champion Boston U. returns 14 letterwinners from a squad that went 11-9 (5-1 AE) in 2010 en route to its sixth straight conference title and NCAA tournament appearance… Head coach Liz Robertshaw is back for her fifth year as head coach and has led Boston U. to a 68-31 record in four seasons… The Terriers, who debuted at No. 18 in the IWLCA Preseason Coaches’ Poll, will be led by seniors Rachel Collins (Winchester, Mass./Winchester) and Corcoran Downey (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial), who last season were named to the all-conference first team and IWLCA Northeast All-Region First Team… Collins, who was named Most Outstanding Player at the America East Championship, compiled team-leading totals of 46 ground balls and 46 draw controls in addition to 21 points (12 G, 9 A)… Boston U. will also return senior attack Erica Baumgartner (Silver Spring, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel), who sat out last season due to injury… Along with Collins, juniors Catie Tilton (Cherry Hills Village, Colo./Cherry Creek) and Molly Swain (Cambridge, Mass./Beaver Country Day School) will serve as team captains… The Terriers will play a challenging non-conference schedule in 2011, including games against three teams in the IWLCA preseason poll and one NCAA tournament participant.
UMBC opened the 2011 campaign with an impressive 19-7 victory over George Mason on Feb. 11… The Retrievers scored 11 straight goals in the first 20 minutes… Senior attack Erika Braerman (Fallston, Md./Fallston) tallied a career-high eight points on five goals and three assists. Her five goals came on just five shots and also matched her career best… Junior midfielder Alicia Krause (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron/Duquesne) scored a career-high four goals and five points… Junior attack Emily Coady (Westminster, Md./Westminster) and senior midfielder Amanda Pappas (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) also notched hat tricks… Sophomore defender Jamie Fahey (Baldwin, Md./Loch Raven), the reigning America East Rookie of the Year, picked up four ground balls and caused a career-high four turnovers… UMBC outshot George Mason, 31-12… The Retrievers are coming off a season in which they went 11-7 and advanced to the America East title game… UMBC scored 223 goals in 2010 and returns 80 percent of its offense, including all four 30-goal scorers – Coady (35), Pappas (34), Braerman (32) and senior midfielder Ashley Stodter (Silver Spring, Md./Good Counsel) (33)… The Retrievers were picked to finish third in the America East preseason poll… After nearly two weeks off, UMBC visits Florida on Wednesday and American on Saturday.
UNH opens the 2011 season this week with road games against Holy Cross and Dartmouth... UNH has a 27-13 record in season openers and has started 1-0 each of the past two seasons... This will mark the fifth time in seven years UNH faces Holy Cross in the season opener; the 'Cats won three of the previous four meetings... Fourteen players, including 10 starters, return from the 2010 squad... Among those are two America East All-Conference First Team, two Second Team and four All-Rookie Team honorees... Four of the top five scorers return, as do both goalkeepers... Allie Duclos (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor), a three-time First Team selection, is the only senior on this year's roster... She is one of three captains alongside juniors Ilana Cohen (Andover, Mass./Andover) and Hayley Rausch (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park).
Stony Brook split a pair of games to open the season, losing a tough battle at Colgate before rebounding with a rout of Manhattan... The game at Colgate was played in blizzard-like conditions due to a combination of snow and strong winds... The Seawolves had fallen behind the Raiders by six goals before coming back to get within one before losing by two... Against Manhattan, the Seawolves scored their most goals in a game (18) since the 2009 season... Melissa Cook (Bay Shore, N.Y.) scored eight goals on the week to lead the Seawolves and to move into a tie for fourth place all-time in career goals scored at Stony Brook with 92... Most of her goals came on assists from freshman Alyssa Cardillo (Farmingdale, N.Y.), who debuted with three goals and eight assists on the week. She assisted five goals in the win over Manhattan... Samantha Djaha (East Islip, N.Y.), Victoria Cable (Oakton, Va.) and Trish Molfetta (Carmel, N.Y.) all scored four goals on the week... Molfetta also led the team in ground balls (5) and caused turnovers (3)... Another freshman making a strong debut was Kaila Gottlick (Madison, Conn.), who produced three goals and two assists. She notched the game-winner vs. Manhattan... Stony Brook will host Denver this Sunday.
Vermont opened the 2011 campaign with a 17-9 loss at UMass... Natalie Jones and Samantha Stern each scored a pair of goals to lead the Catamounts... UVM outshot UMass, 30-27, and held a 16-12 edge in draw controls... Vermont returns to action on Sunday (Feb. 27) when it travels to Colgate for a 1 p.m. game.