Cambridge, Mass.-- Senior attacker Taylor Frink (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) led the 15th-ranked Albany Great Danes to two wins last week to earn America East Player of the Week for the period ending March 13. A pair of Terriers, senior Corcoran Downey (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) and freshman Christina Sheridan (Ellicott City, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel), took home the Defensive Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week awards after Boston U. took down a ranked opponent and then gutted out another win in triple overtime.
Frink lifted the Great Danes to two wins last week to remain undefeated this season. The senior led the team with 14 points last week, totaling a career-high seven points in a pair of non-league victories over both Marist and Niagara. Frink began the week with a hat trick, a career-best four assists, two ground balls and a caused turnover against Marist. She matched that offensive output against Niagara, scoring three goals and dishing out four helpers. Frink also added three ground balls.
During the week, Frink reached 100 career points and climbed to 12th on the program's all-time scoring chart with 112 career points. Frink leads the league with 4.80 points per game and is tied for first with 3.40 ground balls per game.
Downey, a unanimous first-team all-conference defender last year, helped the Terriers to two impressive victories last week. The senior recorded three caused turnovers, two draw controls and a ground ball in the Terriers' upset of No. 9/15 Dartmouth last Wednesday. Later in the week, Downey tallied two ground balls, two draw controls and a caused turnover in a three-overtime victory over George Mason. Downey and the defense limited the Patriots to just three shots in the overtime sessions, while she also added a first-half goal, her first of the season. She leads Boston U. this season with seven caused turnovers in five games.
Sheridan went 2-0 in goal for the Terriers in her first two collegiate starts. Sheridan's first start came against nationally-ranked Dartmouth where she collected nine saves and played all 60:00. The freshman stopped six of the eight free position shots she faced to help Boston U. to the upset victory. Sheridan played all 69:25 in Boston U.'s three-overtime win over George Mason on Saturday. The goalkeeper received credit for three ground balls and six saves, the final stop coming in the closing seconds of the second overtime period. The Terriers scored the game-winning goal on the first possession of the third stanza. Sheridan recorded a 7.42 GAA and .484 save percentage for the week.
Team Notebooks:
#15/19 Albany (5-0, 0-0 AE) has won its opening five games for the first time as a Division I program after defeating Marist (17-8) and Niagara (23-1)… The Great Danes moved into the national top-20 in both the IWLCA and deBeer/Inside Lacrosse rankings for the second time in their history… Albany has won 12 of its last 13 non-conference games… Taylor Frink (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) had a career-high seven points (3 G, 4 A) vs. Marist. Frink came back with seven more points, all in the first half, against Niagara. The senior attacker became the 13th Albany player to reach the 100-point mark and moved to 12th on the school’s career scoring list with 112 points ... Ariana Parker (Port Ewen, N.Y./Kingston) scored four times against both Marist and Niagara. Parker has four or more goals in three consecutive starts… Jodi Battaglia (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst Central) had a season-high four points (3 G, 1 A) vs. Marist. Battaglia has climbed to 12th in career goals with 71... All-America defensive midfielder Nikki Branchini (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) has scored in every game this season. She toppled the 200-career plateau in draw controls (210) and had a season-best nine against Niagara… Rachael Burek (Rensselaer, N.Y./Columbia) netted a career-high five goals vs. Niagara, all in the opening period... Persy Sample (Stow, Ohio/Western Reserve Academy) scored for the first time as a collegian against Marist and followed with three goals in her first start vs. Niagara.
Binghamton University (1-6, 0-0 AE) played a hectic three-games-in-five-days schedule last week, going 0-3 against Canisius, Monmouth and Drexel... Slow starts hurt the Bearcats throughout the week, as Binghamton fell behind 4-0 to Canisius and 7-0 to Drexel in the first half... Binghamton ended up falling to Canisius 12-7, outscoring the Golden Griffins, 5-4, in the second half... Binghamton lost to Drexel, 10-4, outscoring the Dragons, 4-3, after surrendering a 7-0 run to start the game... Against Monmouth, Binghamton held a 2-1 halftime lead but was unable to hold on as the Hawks went on a 5-0 run in the second half to take command of the game... Senior Beth Moore (Happauge, N.Y./Happauge) had multi-goal efforts in each game last week to break Binghamton's all-time goals record with 91 for her career... Junior Lis Zuern (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) netted her team-leading 15th goal against Drexel... Binghamton is off until Monday, March 21 when it travels to Highpoint, North Carolina to take on the High Point Panthers at 6 p.m... The Bearcats will play two games in as many days as they will visit Davidson following their game with High Point.
Boston University improved to 3-2 with two wins last week… The Terriers defeated their first ranked opponent of the season on Wednesday when they knocked off No. 9/15 Dartmouth, 9-7. The win was the Terriers' fourth in their past five games against the Big Green… After tying the game with 2.2 seconds left in regulation, Boston U. won a thrilling 10-9, triple-overtime contest against George Mason on Saturday. The Terriers improved to 1-1 against teams from the CAA in 2011… Freshman goalkeeper Christina Sheridan (Ellicott City, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) shined last week, picking up both wins in her first two collegiate starts. Sheridan made nine saves against Dartmouth and followed that performance with six saves against the Patriots… Senior Erica Baumgartner (Silver Spring, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel), who scored the game-winner against George Mason, posted six points (3g, 3a) in two games, while collecting two draw controls and one ground ball… Senior Rachel Collins (Winchester, Mass./Winchester had two solid outings and collected five points (3g, 2a) to go along six draw controls and four ground balls… Boston U. will begin its season-long three-game road trip on Tuesday (March 15) when the squad visits Notre Dame… The Terriers will also visit Denver on Saturday (March 19)… Boston U. is 0-1 all-time against Notre Dame and has never faced Denver. l Dartmouth Highlights l George Mason Highlights l
UMBC (5-2, 0-0 AE) won two home games last week… The Retrievers’ defense came up big in an 8-5 victory over Delaware on Wednesday… Senior midfielder Ashley Stodter (Silver Spring, Md./Good Counsel) notched her second hat trick of the season… Senior goalie Natalie Rau (Forest Hill, Md./Fallston) recorded a career-high nine saves… Nine Retrievers found the back of the net in a 20-6 rout of Manhattan on Sunday… Senior midfielder Amanda Pappas (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) scored a game-high six goals… Senior attack Erika Braerman (Fallston, Md./Fallston) led all scorers with seven points on two goals and a career-high five assists… Junior attack Emily Coady (Westminster, Md./Westminster) tallied a career-high six points on three goals and three helpers, all in the first half… Junior midfielder Alicia Krause (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron/Duquesne) also posted a hat trick… At 5-2, the Retrievers are off to their best start since 1994… Braerman ranks seventh all-time at UMBC with 51 career assists. She and Pappas recently became the 30th and 31st Retrievers ever to reach 100 points for their careers, and they are the ninth set of teammates in UMBC history with 100 points apiece… Braerman leads the Retrievers with 27 points and 12 assists. She is tied with Krause for the team lead in goals with 15… UMBC visits in-state rival Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday for its only game this week. l Delaware Highlights l Manhattan Highlights l
UNH (3-2, 0-0 AE) won its second consecutive game--both on the road--with a 12-8 victory at Fairfield to improve to 3-1 away from home this season... Prior to the Fairfield game, the team that scored the game's first goal went on to victory all four games; the Wildcats fell behind 2-0 before rallying to a 6-4 halftime lead and four-goal victory... Ilana Cohen (Andover, Mass./Andover) recorded a career-high five points with two goals and three assists; she is the only Wildcat with multiple points in all five games. Cohen has scored 11 goals on 16 shots for an impressive .688 shooting percentage... Kate Keagins (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) tallied a season-high three assists as part of a season-high six-point effort that extended her point-scoring streak to 13 games... Jenny Simpson scored four goals to mark her first multiple-point game of 2011... Meghan Bridges (Sandy Hook, Conn.) recorded her first collegiate point with a goal... In her first start of the season, Kate Gunts (Wilton, Conn.) made six saves, all in the first half, and finished with a game-high five ground balls... New Hampshire yielded a season-low 18 shots to Fairfield... UNH has recorded more ground balls than the opposition in four of five games (3-1 record)... The 'Cats have committed fewer turnovers than their opponents in all five games... UNH's stretch of four games in six days continues this week with games against George Mason (Monday), Vanderbilt (Wednesday) and Presbyterian (Friday).
Stony Brook (2-3, 0-0 AE) dropped its only game of the week, a 20-13 road loss at nationally-ranked Massachusetts... The Seawolves have played three consecutive games against teams that have been nationally-ranked at one point or another this season and are 1-2 in those games... Kaila Gottlick (Madison, Conn.) was Stony Brook's leading scorer on the afternoon, pouring in four goals and an assist for five points. She scored the first goal of the game to give the Seawolves their only lead. She also had a team-high three draw controls and chipped in one ground ball and one caused turnover. Gottlick is second on the team in goals (9) and third in points (14)... Three other Seawolves had multiple goals at UMass, including Alyssa Cardillo (Farmingdale, N.Y.), Melissa Cook (Bay Shore, N.Y.) and Abby Ford (Baltimore, Md.)... Cardillo had three points on the day and now has a team-high 20 points on the year... Stony Brook will play two games this week against teams in the MAAC, Wednesday at Marist and Saturday at home vs. Iona.
Vermont (2-4, 0-0 AE) had its two-game win streak snapped with a 12-11 loss to Quinnipiac on Sunday... The Catamounts earned a 10-6 victory at Denver in the middle of the week to post a 2-0 record on their trip to Colorado over spring break... Freshman Sydney Mas (Bedford, N.Y./St. George's School (RI)) led UVM with nine points on the week. She posted a hat trick in each game and added three assists. Mas leads the team in scoring with 14 goals and 17 points on the year... Senior Megan MacDonald (Wayland, Mass./Wayland) has 11 points, 13 ground balls and 14 draw controls through the first six games of the season... The Catamounts travel to Siena Wednesday (3 p.m.) and Marist on Saturday (1 p.m.). l Quinnipiac Highlights l