Cambridge, Mass.--
The last weekend of the regular season was an exciting one not just for its playoff implications, but also for the records which fell. In addition to Albany becoming the first America East team to ever complete a season undefeated, America East Player of the Week Danielle Etrasco (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) of Boston U. tied a conference single-game scoring record and Rookie of the Week Sydney Mas (Bedford, N.Y./St. George's (R.I.)) from Vermont became the highest-scoring rookie in league history. New Hampshire junior goalkeeper Kate Gunts (Wilton, Conn./Wilton) also put her stamp on the weekend with a season-best effort to earn Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Etrasco singlehandedly outscored Vermont in a must-win game for Boston U. on Saturday, leading the Terriers to the victory which clinched a berth to the America East Championship. The sophomore set a Boston U. single-game record and tied the America East single-game record with nine goals in a 16-8 win over the Catamounts. Etrasco also compiled three draw controls, one caused turnover and one ground ball in the road victory.
Etrasco ranks second in the conference with 53 goals (3.31 gpg) and third with 61 points (3.81 ppg). The sophomore attack is also among league leaders (fourth) with 40 draw controls (2.50 per game) this season.
Gunts backboned New Hampshire's comeback effort at Binghamton, leading the Wildcats to a much-needed win and the fourth seed for the upcoming America East Championship. The junior goalkeeper held the Bearcats scoreless for the final 20:46 of the game while the Wildcats rallied from a 10-5 deficit to win, 12-10.
During Binghamton's scoreless stretch, Gunts made six saves, including two in the final minute to preserve the UNH lead. Gunts finished with a season-high 10 saves and a .500 save percentage to go along with two ground balls. Against league opponents, Gunts has a .459 save percentage, which ranks third in America East.
Mas did all she could to extend Vermont's season, setting records in the process. Mas, who continues to lead the conference in scoring, notched a team-high five goals to break the America East rookie record for most goals in a single season. Her 55 markers this season surpassed former Terrier Jenny Hauser's 54 goals during her rookie campaign.
Mas also owns the UVM rookie records for most goals (55) and points (63) in a single season, while her marks rank second and tied for third, respectively, among the all-time single-season marks at Vermont.
The 2011 America East Women's Lacrosse Championship gets underway on Thursday, May 5 at Albany's John Fallon Field. #1 Albany will host #4 New Hampshire in the first semifinal at 1p, to be followed by #3 UMBC vs. #2 Boston U. in a rematch of last year's title game at 3:30p. The winners will play for the America East trophy and an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament in Saturday's championship game at 1p.
Team Notebooks:
#8/5 Albany
(15-0, 6-0 AE) won its second consecutive America East Conference regular-season title with a 12-11 win over UMBC. The Great Danes will host the conference tournament as the top seed on May 5 and 7 at John Fallon Field… Albany, which is ranked among the top 10 in both national polls, is the only undefeated team at the NCAA Division I level… Tewaaraton Award nominee Taylor Frink (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) totaled six-plus points for the sixth time this season with one goal and five assists vs. UMBC… Frink established Albany’s single-season records for points (70) and assists (40). The senior attacker is second in assists (73) and sixth in scoring with 158 points on the career charts… Jodi Battaglia (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst Central) registered her 20th career hat trick after netting three first-half goals against UMBC. Battaglia moved up to sixth in career goals with 105 and is ninth in points (137)… Nikki Branchini (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) tied her own single-season record with 74 draw controls… Ariana Parker (Port Ewen, N.Y./Kingston) has tallied three or more goals six times this spring and had what proved to be the gamewinner with 9:05 remaining vs. UMBC… Rachael Burek (Rensselaer, N.Y./Columbia) totaled three goals and one assist against UMBC, her third time this year with four or more points… Anna Berman (Garnerville, N.Y./North Rockland) made eight saves and has made seven or more stops against six opponents.
Binghamton University
(4-13, 1-5 AE) played back-to-back games last weekend, defeating Ivy League member Columbia in comeback fashion Saturday, 12-11, then losing to New Hampshire, 12-10, in a pseudo America East tournament play-in game on Sunday... The Bearcats rallied from a five-goal second-half deficit against Columbia, led by the trio of junior Lis Zuern (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) and seniors Beth Moore (Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppauge) and Ali Castiglie (Middle Island, N.Y./Longwood)... Binghamton's top three point scorers each netted a hat trick for the Bearcats... Senior goalie Lauren Scott (Jarrettsville, Md./North Hartford) had a solid day between the pipes, stopping ten shots... Against New Hampshire, Binghamton took a three-goal lead into the half, responding every time the Wildcats scored... The Bearcats added to their lead early in the second half, pushing it to five... Sophomore Casey Bulman (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) netted Binghamton's final goal with 20:46 remaining, as New Hampshire held the Bearcats scoreless the remainder of the half... The Wildcats took full advantage of their stingy defense, scoring seven unanswered goals to take the 12-10 victory and final spot in the 2011 America East Championship.
Sophomore Danielle Etrasco (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) set a program single-game record with nine goals, as the Boston University
lacrosse team (8-8, 4-2 AE) secured its 13th straight America East Championship berth with a 16-8 win over Vermont at Moulton Winder Field on Saturday afternoon… The Terriers garnered their 16th straight win against the Catamounts… With Boston U.’s win and Albany's victory against UMBC Saturday, the Terriers also secured the No. 2 seed for the upcoming America East tournament… Etrasco's nine goals surpassed the eight markers two-time First-Team All-American Sarah Dalton ('09) scored against William & Mary in 2009… The nine markers also tied an America East single-game record… Senior Erica Baumgartner (Silver Spring, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) (1g, 3a) and juniors Molly Swain (Cambridge, Mass./Beaver Country Day School) (2g, 1a) and Catie Tilton (Cherry Hills Village, Colo./Cherry Creek ) (1g, 3) also collected multi-point games for the Terriers… Freshman goalkeeper Christina Sheridan (Ellicott City, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) improved to 7-6 with eight saves… Boston U., which will look to capture its seventh straight league title, will face UMBC in the conference semifinals on Thursday (May 5) at 3:30 p.m… The Terriers defeated the Retrievers, 13-9, on April 2.
UMBC
(10-6, 4-2 AE) dropped a 12-11 heartbreaker to No. 8 Albany on Saturday… The Great Danes led, 11-8, midway through the second half, and the Retrievers twice pulled to within one but could not find the equalizer… Senior attack Erika Braerman (Fallston, Md./Fallston) led UMBC with four points on three goals and an assist, while senior midfielder Amanda Pappas (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) and sophomore midfielder Lindsay Cox (High Bridge, N.J./Voorhees) also notched hat tricks… Pappas ranks 14th all-time at UMBC with 108 career goals… Junior midfielder Alicia Krause (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron/Duquesne) tallied her 50th point of the season, giving the Retrievers a 50-point scorer four years in a row. She has at least one point in all 16 contests this season, while Pappas has scored a goal in 12 straight. Krause leads the Retrievers with 35 goals, 50 points, 28 ground balls, 26 draw controls and 18 caused turnovers, while Braerman is tops with 18 assists… UMBC finished the regular season 10-6 for the second year in a row, and its four America East victories are the most since winning five in 2006… The Retrievers earned the third seed in the America East Championship and will face second-seeded Boston U. in the semifinals on Thursday… It will be a rematch of last season’s league championship game, which the Terriers won, 11-10… Boston U. defeated UMBC, 13-9, earlier this season... The No. 3 seed is the Retrievers’ highest since 2006, when they claimed a share of the conference’s regular-season title.
UNH
(8-8, 3-3 AE) overcame a five-goal deficit in the second half to defeat Binghamton, 12-10, in the regular season finale and earn a berth in the America East Championship tournament for a league-record 14th consecutive year... Two days earlier, the Wildcats were edged, 14-9, by ninth-ranked Boston College... UNH's balanced attack continued with seven different goal scorers vs. BC and nine different goal scorers at Binghamton... Kate Gunts (Wilton, Conn./Wilton) recorded a season-high 10 saves to backbone UNH's come-from-behind effort at Binghamton... Ilana Cohen (Andover, Mass./Andover) matched her career high of five points at Binghamton; the three goals also tied a personal best... Hayley Rausch (Serverna Park, Md./Severna Park), who tallied a team-high four points against BC, is approaching the 100-point milestone; she currently has 96 points (64g, 32a)... Kate Keagins (Bay Shore, N.Y.) is also on the verge of recording her 100th career point with 94 points (63g, 31a)... Allie Duclos (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor), the team's only senior, was honored prior to the BC game, her last on Memorial Field... Duclos and Jenny Simpson (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) share the team's longest active goal-scoring streak of seven games, and both have scored a goal in 13 of 16 games this season... JoJo Curro (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) carries a 12-game point-scoring streak into postseason play.
Stony Brook
(4-11, 1-5 AE) completed its 2011 season with a 14-10 loss at Yale... Senior Melissa Cook (Bay Shore, N.Y.) scored three goals to lead the Seawolves, her fifth game of three goals or more this season. She ends the year with a team-best 28 goals and ends her Stony Brook career with 112 goals, fourth-best in program history. She is also fifth in the archives in points with 147... Seven other Seawolves scored goals in the match, including senior Samantha Djaha (East Islip, N.Y.), who finished her career with 95 goals, fifth-best in SBU history. Her 110 points and 100 draw controls put her seventh and fourth on the all-time list, respectively... Freshman Alyssa Cardillo (Farmingdale, N.Y.) tallied a goal to give her a team-best 31 points (11 goals, 20 assists)... Junior Abby Ford (Baltimore, Md.) notched two assists to tie her with Cardillo for the team lead with 20, which ranks tied for ninth in SBU single-season history... Cori Kennedy (North Babylon, N.Y.) led the defense at Yale with three caused turnovers and four ground balls... Freshman Tara Gerstacker (Manorville, N.Y.) had two caused turnovers to finish with a team-high 20 on the season. Her 1.33 average is fourth-best in America East. She also was first on the team in ground balls (29) and second in draw controls (24).
Vermont
closes out the season with an 8-9 record and 2-4 mark in league play... The Catamounts doubled their win total from last year and recorded eight wins for the second time in four years under Jen Johnson... The UVM senior class of Megan MacDonald (Wayland, Mass./Wayland) and Caitlyn Clark (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Ramapo) wrapped up its four years with 29 wins, matching the mark set by the 1993 senior class as the winningest senior class in school history... MacDonald started 66 games in her career, which ranks second among the all-time leaders. She also ranks among the top-10 at UVM in five other career categories... Freshman Sydney Mas (Bedford, N.Y./St. George's (R.I.)) scored a team-high five goals in a loss to Boston U in UVM's lone game of the week, and broke the America East rookie record for most goals in a single season... The five tallies raised her season total to 55, breaking the mark of 54 set by Jenny Hauser of Boston U in 2005... Mas also owns the UVM rookie record for most goals (55) and points (63) in a single season. Her marks rank second and tied for third, respectively, among the all-time single season marks at Vermont.