Cambridge, Mass.-- The league honored both of the top two goal-scorers in America East with weekly awards on Monday afternoon for the period ending March 27. The conference's leading scorer, University of Vermont rookie attack Sydney Mas (Bedford, N.Y./St. George's (R.I.)), won the Rookie of the Week award for the second consecutive time. Boston U. sophomore attack Danielle Etrasco (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa), who is second in goals scored, took home the Player of the Week accolade for the second time this season. The conference office also recognized Terrier teammate senior Corcoran Downey (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) for a second time in 2011 as the Defensive Player of the Week.
The deBeer/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll released today shows Albany continuing to climb the rankings. Starting off just receiving votes in the preseason top-20 poll, the Great Danes are now ranked ninth. It is the highest ranking ever for the Albany program, and the first time an America East squad has appeared in the top-10 since Boston U. was 10th in April, 2009.
In leading Boston U. to two wins last week, Etrasco totaled eight goals, six draw controls, two ground balls and two caused turnovers. On the road against Yale, the sophomore scored a team-high four goals to go along with three draw controls, two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Etrasco again scored four goals in the league opener against Binghamton, including two tallies on free position attempts. She also controlled three draws against the Bearcats. Etrasco ranks second in the conference with 26 goals this season and is third with 3.56 points per game.
Downey registered a goal, seven ground balls, six draw controls and three caused turnovers last week in games against Yale and Binghamton. Earlier in the week against the Bulldogs, the senior collected four ground balls, two draw controls and caused a turnover in the Terriers' 12-5 win. Downey scored her third goal of the season in Saturday's win over Binghamton, picking up a ground ball in Boston U.'s defensive end and racing down the field to tally the score. She finished the game against the Bearcats with four draw controls, three ground balls and two caused turnovers to go along with the goal. Downey leads the Terriers with 12 caused turnovers this season.
Mas continued her strong play with a seven-goal week. She also picked up 11 draw controls and two ground balls in two games. The rookie began the week with four goals, four draw controls and a ground ball in a come-from-behind victory over Oregon. Mas led the Catamounts to a victory over conference foe Stony Brook on Sunday, notching a hat trick, recording a ground balls and winning seven draw controls. Mas leads America East with 31 goals and is tied for the top spot in the league with 36 points.
Team Notebooks:
#14/9 Albany (7-0, 0-0 AE) rallied to defeat Oregon, 7-6, in the first meeting between the programs on March 27… Albany has posted wins in its opening seven games for the first time as a Division I program. Albany has won 14 of its last 15 non-conference games… Freshman Michelle Primomo (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) had a career-high two goals, including the game-winner with 3:51 remaining… Jodi Battaglia (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst Central) became the 14th Albany player to reach the 100-point mark (101). The senior attacker equaled a season high with three goals… Taylor Frink (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) matched a career-best with four assists and added one goal off a fastbreak early in the final period. Frink is fourth in assists (50) and 10th in points (124) on the school’s career charts. The senior attack is sixth among the NCAA Division I scoring leaders… Nikki Branchini (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland), who caused a turnover and picked up a ground ball with 2:21 left, climbed past the 150-career plateau in ground balls (151)… Anna Berman (Garnersville, N.Y./North Rockland) made eight saves and had a career-high four ground balls against Oregon… The Great Danes are in the top 20 in both national polls (#14 IWLCA, #9 deBeer/Inside Lacrosse)… The Great Danes are first nationally in scoring defense at 5.71 goals per game… Albany travels to No. 19 Boston College for its fourth meeting with a top-20 team this season before starting conference play on April 2.
Binghamton University (2-8, 0-1 AE) earned its second victory of the season last week, as the Bearcats played two games in as many days early in the week and three overall... Binghamton fell to High Point, 13-10, before it rebounded the next night to defeat Davidson, 14-10, as Binghamton traveled to North Carolina over spring break... Eight different Bearcats tallied a goal against Davidson, led by senior Beth Moore (Hauppauge, N.Y./Happauge)... Moore netted her second straight hat trick against the Wildcats... In its third game of the week, Binghamton opened up America East play at Boston University... The Terriers jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first half, but the Beacats were able to cut the deficit to one on the strength of two Lis Zuern (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) goals... From there, Boston U. dominated as it would out-score Binghamton, 10-2, the rest of the game... In the game, Moore eclipsed the 100-goal mark for her career... Up next for Binghamton is Colgate on Tuesday, March 29 at 5 p.m. in Hamilton, N.Y... The Bearcats return to conference action Saturday, April 2 at 12 p.m. as they welcome Vermont to the Bearcats Sports Complex.
The Boston University lacrosse team improved to 5-4 overall and 1-0 in conference play with wins over Yale and Binghamton… The Terriers played strong defense against both teams, holding the Bulldogs to a 29:45 scoreless drought and the Bearcats to a 22:21 drought… Junior Hannah Frey (Pearl River, N.Y./Nanuet) and sophomore Danielle Etrasco (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) led Boston U. with four goals each against both Yale and Binghamton… Senior Erica Baumgartner (Silver Spring, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) tallied six assists during the week to tie Mary Beth Miller (’06) for most career assists in program history (108)… Freshman goalkeeper Christina Sheridan (Ellicott City, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) went 2-0, while senior Corcoran Downey (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) had a pair of strong performances as she collected seven ground balls, six draw controls, three caused turnovers and one goal… With a 15-6 win over Binghamton, Boston U. improved to 10-0 against its conference opponent… Senior Rachel Collins (Winchester, Mass./Winchester) collected a game-high five draw controls and classmate Kate Cipolletti (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) registered a career-high four ground balls... The Terriers host UMBC in a conference contest on Saturday, April 2, Boston U.'s only game of the week.
UMBC (7-3, 1-0 AE) split a pair of home games last week… The Retrievers fell to sixth-ranked cross-town rival Loyola, 15-8, on Wednesday. The loss snapped UMBC’s three-game win streak and four-game home winning streak… Senior midfielder Amanda Pappas (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) scored five points on four goals and an assist… Senior midfielder Ashley Stodter (Silver Spring, Md./Good Counsel) notched her third hat trick of the season… UMBC defeated America East rival New Hampshire, 10-8, on Saturday, in its conference opener. It was the Retrievers’ first-ever victory over the Wildcats in 10 tries… Three Retrievers posted hat tricks in the game, led by Pappas and junior midfielder Alicia Krause (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron/Duquesne), who each tallied four points… Senior attack Erika Braerman (Fallston, Md./Fallston) also scored three goals… UMBC has won four straight America East Conference openers… Pappas has scored 17 goals in her last four games after tallying just seven in her first six contests… Pappas is the Retrievers’ active leader in goals (97), points (123), ground balls (68) and draw controls (50)… UMBC is 5-1 at home this season… Stodter has scored a point in 15 straight games dating to April 10, 2010, while Krause has scored a goal in all 10 games this season… Braerman leads the Retrievers with 33 points and 13 assists… Pappas has scored a team-best 24 goals… UMBC visits defending America East champion Boston University on Saturday in a rematch of the 2010 league title game.
UNH (5-4, 0-1 AE) was upended, 10-8, in its America East conference opener at UMBC on March 26 despite surrendering just two second-half goals... It was the first loss in 10 all-time games vs. the Retrievers... Hayley Rausch (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) matched her career high of two assists and also scored two goals to finish with a team-high four points at UMBC... That game was just the fourth time this season the opposition scored double digits in goals; the 'Cats have not surrendered more than 12 goals in a game this season... UNH entered last week's action ranked #2 in the nation in caused turnovers at 12.0 per game; the Wildcats finished with eight CTO at UMBC... Kate Keagins (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) leads the team in goals (16), assists (8), points (24), shots (47), ground balls (26) and caused turnovers (22); she is also fourth in draw controls (9)... Ilana Cohen (Andover, Mass./Andover) established a personal season high in goals midway through the season; she finished with 11 goals as a freshman, 12 as a sophomore and already has 15 in 2011.
Stony Brook (3-6, 0-1 AE) dropped both its games last week, but continues to get outstanding play from senior Victoria Cable (Oakton, Va.), who has tallied 12 goals over her last four games. She had one goal vs. defending national champion Maryland and then notched three at Vermont...Cable now has 18 goals on the season, surpassing her previous season high of 15, set in 2010...Kaila Gottlick (Madison, Conn.) continues her run as one of the top freshmen in the league after two goals and an assist against Vermont. She now has 14 goals and 6 assists for 20 points this season... With a goal at Vermont, senior Melissa Cook (Bay Shore, N.Y.) reached the 140-point mark for her career and is within 13 points of fourth place all-time in the Stony Brook archives... Stony Brook hosts Albany this Saturday, its first America East home game of the year.
Vermont (6-4, 1-0 AE) extended its win streak to four games with an 11-9 win over Oregon and a 15-7 victory over Stony Brook. The Catamounts have won six of their last seven games... The four-game win streak matches the longest for Vermont under head coach Jen Johnson. UVM won four straight games in her second season in 2006 and again in 2009... Freshman Sydney Mas (Bedford, N.Y./St. George's School (R.I.)) was the leading scorer for the Catamounts in both games and finished the week with seven goals and 11 draw controls. Mas leads the team in scoring with 31 goals and 36 points... Junior goalkeeper Laura Barber (Middlebury, Vt./Middlebury) totaled 15 saves in the two wins... UVM hosts Holy Cross on Wednesday (March 30) at 3 p.m. and then travels to Binghamton on Saturday for a 12 p.m. game.