Cambridge, Mass.-- A pair of University at Albany seniors earned America East weekly awards after the Great Danes' continued their undefeated season with two more wins last week. Attacker Jodi Battaglia (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst Central) took home Player of the Week recognition, while teammate Nikki Branchini (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) was the recipient of the league's Defensive Player of the Week. The league's leading scorer, University of Vermont freshman attacker Sydney Mas (Bedford, N.Y./St. George's School (RI)), landed the Rookie of the Week award for the fourth time this season.
Battaglia led the Albany offense in the Great Danes' two-win week with 12 goals. The senior attacker also finished the week with two assists for 14 points to go along with two draw controls. Battaglia netted a career-high seven goals to help Albany pull away for a 14-7 victory over Binghamton and set a school record with its 14th win on the season. Earlier in the week, she scored four of her five goals in the first half of a 14-8 non-league win at Canisius, handing the Golden Griffs their first home loss since April 9, 2010. Battaglia connected on 12 of her 14 shots in the two wins and surpassed the 100-career-goal mark. In five league games, Battaglia leads America East with 3.60 goals per game.
Branchini picks up her third defensive honor of the season with weekly totals of seven ground balls, three caused turnovers and 19 draw controls. The senior midfielder tallied eight draw controls, four ground balls and two caused turnovers in the win over Binghamton, moving Albany to 5-0 in league play. In the road win at Canisius, Branchini controlled a season-high 11 draws while also picking up three ground balls and a caused turnover. During Albany's 14-0 start to the season, Branchini is among America East leaders in ground balls (29) and caused turnovers (18), and leads the league with 70 draw controls.
Mas was a key force in Vermont's 8-7 victory over America East rival New Hampshire on Saturday. The rookie, who has now scored 50 goals on the season, tallied a game-high four goals to give the Catamounts their first win at UNH since 1993. Mas scored the final three goals of the game, including the gamewinner, to lift the Catamounts to the win. The freshman, who leads America East in scoring with 3.33 goals per game through 15 contests, also added three controlled draws against the Wildcats.
The top seed will host the 2011 America East Women's Lacrosse Championship on May 5 and 7. Albany and UMBC meet Saturday at noon to determine the number one seed for the tournament, while both of the other league games on the final weekend of the regular season hold playoff implications. Vermont, New Hampshire and Binghamton all must win for a chance to compete for the conference crown. The Terriers and Catamounts meet in Burlington Saturday at noon, and the Wildcats and Bearcats play noon on Sunday at the Bearcat Sports Complex in regular-season finales.
Team Notebooks:
#9/7 Albany (14-0, 5-0 AE) meets UMBC for the America East Conference regular-season title and the conference tournament’s top seed on April 30 at John Fallon Field… The Great Danes, who are ranked among the top 10 in both national polls, are one of two remaining undefeated teams at the NCAA Division I level… Albany set a school record for single-season victories (14) after defeating Canisius (14-8) and Binghamton (14-7) last week... Tewaaraton Award nominee Taylor Frink (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) established four school records last week. Frink set single-season records for points (64) and assists (35). Debbie August (1996) and Rafaela Nikas (1998) previously held the scoring standard with 62 points. Frink also eclipsed Andrea Esposito’s 2002 record with eight assists vs. Binghamton, plus tied the single-game points mark (10)… Jodi Battaglia (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst Central) has 19 career hat tricks after netting a career-high seven goals at Binghamton. The senior also had seven points (5G, 2A) in a road win at Canisius. Battaglia became the seventh player in school history to reach the 100-career-goal plateau (102)… Nikki Branchini (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) has 60-plus draw controls for the third consecutive year with 70. The All-America defensive midfielder needs five to break her own single-season record… Albany has won four one-goal decisions this spring, including victories over Penn State, Oregon and Boston College.
Binghamton University (3-12, 1-4 AE) fought hard against undefeated Albany last weekend, but fell, 14-7, to the Great Danes... The Bearcats took advantage of a slow start by Albany, scoring twice quickly, to take the 2-0 advantage... Sophomore Katherine Hunsberger (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland) and senior Ali Castiglie (Middle Island, N.Y./Longwood) led the fast start with each netting goals in the game's first five minutes... Albany would roll from there, as the Great Danes would go on a 7-0 run to halt any momentum the Bearcats built... Binghamton would not be discouraged however, scoring twice in the final five minutes of the half to cut the Albany lead to three heading into intermission... Out of the half Albany would add to their lead, stretching it back to five, as Binghamton would make one last push... Senior Beth Moore (Happauge, N.Y./Happauge) fired home two free-position shots, making the score 9-6... That would be as close as the Bearcats would get, as Albany scored five of the last six goals... Up next for Binghamton is a pair of home games to close out the season... The Bearcats host Ivy League member Columbia Saturday, April 30 at 1 p.m. and then welcome New Hampshire to the Bearcats Sports Complex, Sunday, May 1 at noon.
The Boston University lacrosse team (7-8, 3-2 AE) split its two games last week, falling to Harvard, 16-6, on Wednesday and rolling past Stony Brook, 12-3, on Saturday… The Terriers dropped to 3-1 against the Ivy League with their loss to the Crimson… Harvard, which jumped out to a 5-0 lead, grabbed a 10-3 advantage after the first half… Boston U. opened the second stanza on a 3-1 run to make it an 11-6 contest, but the Crimson closed the game with five straight markers… With a win over Stony Brook, the Terriers snapped their four-game losing streak… Sophomore Danielle Etrasco (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) paced the Terriers with five goals and four draw controls last week… Junior Catie Tilton (Cherry Hills Village, Colo./Cherry Creek) registered a team-high four assists, senior Erica Baumgartner (Silver Spring, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) collected a team-high four caused turnovers and classmate Rachel Collins (Winchester, Mass./Winchester) led the team with five ground balls… Etrasco (44g, 8a) and Tilton (8g, 18a) are the only two Terriers who have registered at least one point in each game… Boston U. can clinch its 13th consecutive America East tournament berth if it defeats Vermont on Saturday (April 30)… If the Terriers fall to the Catamounts, Boston U. can still reach the postseason if New Hampshire loses to Binghamton.
UMBC (10-5, 4-1 AE) had the week off… The Retrievers return to action on Saturday when they visit Albany in a battle for the top seed in the America East Championship… UMBC can finish no lower than third in the conference standings… At 10-5, the Retrievers own their best record after 15 games since 2002, when they were 11-4… After winning 11 games last season, UMBC has posted 10 wins in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2002-03… The Retrievers’ four America East victories are their most since winning five in 2006, when they claimed a share of the league’s regular-season title… Senior midfielder Amanda Pappas (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) ranks 14th all-time at UMBC with 105 career goals and 16th with 131 points… Senior attack Erika Braerman (Fallston, Md./Fallston) is fourth all-time with 56 career assists and tied for 17th with 130 points… Senior midfielder Ashley Stodter (Silver Spring, Md./Good Counsel) has scored a point in 20 straight games dating to April 10, 2010, while junior midfielder Alicia Krause (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron/Duquesne) has one in all 15 contests this season and Pappas has scored a goal in 11 straight… Krause leads the Retrievers with 34 goals, 49 points, 26 ground balls, 24 draw controls and 17 caused turnovers, while Braerman is tops with 17 assists.
UNH (7-7, 2-3 AE) was outscored, 5-1, in the second half, including 4-0 the last 26 minutes of the game, in Saturday's 8-7 loss to Vermont... UNH recorded an assist on 4 of 7 goals, and the 'Cats have 66 assists on 137 goals (48 percent) this season... The Wildcats lost despite holding the statistical edge in shots (+5), ground balls (+1) and turnovers (+4)... Jenny Simpson (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) scored three first-half goals to propel the Wildcats to a 6-0 lead in the opening 14 minutes of the game... Simpson's second goal of the game marked her 50th career point... UNH has a 6-2 record when leading at halftime; the 'Cats held a 6-3 lead at the half vs. UVM... The Wildcats are also 6-2 when they record more shots than the opposition... Casey Doyle (Ivyland, Pa./Counsil Rock North) was named UNH's America East Player of the Game; she was credited with three ground balls and two caused turnovers... Senior captain Allie Duclos (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor) will play in her final home game at Memorial Field on Friday, April 29 when UNH plays host to Boston College... The 'Cats close the regular-season Sunday at Binghamton... UNH needs to win to advance to the America East Championship tournament for the 14th consecutive year.
The Stony Brook women's lacrosse team's (4-10, 1-5 AE) America East conference schedule and home schedule wrapped up with a 12-3 loss to Boston U. last Saturday...In the team's final LaValle Stadium appearance of the season, the Seawolves honored their nine outgoing seniors, Courtney Bertolone (Farmingville, N.Y.), Victoria Cable (Oakton, Va.), Mickey Cahill (Bay Shore, N.Y.), Jamie Carlson (Glen Cove, N.Y.), Melissa Cook (Bay Shore, N.Y.), Samantha Djaha (East Islip, N.Y.), Abby Juliani (Jenkintown, Pa.), Cori Kennedy (North Babylon, N.Y.) and Trish Molfetta (Carmel, N.Y.)... Cook and Molfetta each scored goals for the Seawolves last weekend... Freshman Tara Gerstacker (Manorville, N.Y.) had the third goal for the Seawolves and also had three caused turnovers. Gerstacker now has nine ground balls and eight caused turnovers over her last three matches... Cahill made 10 saves vs. Boston U., her sixth game of 10 saves or more this season. She ranks second in the conference in save percentage at .455... Stony Brook will close out the 2011 season at Yale on Saturday.
Vermont improved to 8-8 and 2-3 in America East with an 8-7 victory over New Hampshire... Freshman Sydney Mas (Bedford, N.Y./St. George's (RI)) scored a game-high four goals, including the final three tallies of the contest, to lift UVM to the win... Junior goaltender Laura Barber (Middlebury, Vt./Middlebury) made eight stops for UVM, including a save on an eight-meter shot with 44 seconds left in the contest... The victory was UVM's first at UNH since 1993... Mas reached the 50-goal mark with her four tallies and begins the week seven goals shy of tying the all-time single-season record at UVM for goals, which is 57 set by UVM Hall of Famer Lyn Jordan in 1984... UVM hosts Boston U. at 12 p.m. on Saturday in the regular-season finale.