CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Boston University and University at Albany, who have combined to win the last six America East Championships, top the 2011 America East Field Hockey Coaches’ Preseason Poll, with the Terriers edging out the Great Danes by one first-place vote.
Boston U. earned 23 points and three out of a possible five first-place votes (head coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams), while Albany follows with two top-place votes and 21 points.
University of New Hampshire, last year’s regular-season champion, garnered the final first-place vote to finish tied for third with University of Maine, each capturing 16 points. Fairfield University and University of Vermont are also tied with seven points apiece to round out the six-team poll.
The top-finishing team in the regular season will host the 2011 America East Field Hockey Championship on November 4 and 6. The league’s top four teams will compete for the tournament title with an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship on the line. The conference earned an automatic bid to the national tournament by finishing with the fourth-highest RPI last year only behind the ACC, Big Ten and Big East.
The Terriers (10-8 overall record, 3-2 America East record in 2010), winners of four conference crowns in the last six years, were one of two America East squads ranked in the final Division I coaches’ poll, ranked No. 20 nationally. Boston U. has four all-conference selections returning, including Midfielder of the Year Nicole van Oosterom (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Chilton Saint James School) and Defensive Player of the Year Jacinda McLeod (Whangarei, New Zealand/Whangarei Girls High School). While contributing 16 points (6 g, 4 a) primarily as part of the offensive penalty corner unit, McLeod also backstopped a Terrier defense which led the conference last year with just 23 goals allowed. Juniors van Oosterom and McLeod, along with senior all-conference honorees Kate Murphy (Millbury, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) and Andrea Greene (Santiago, Chile/Universidad Diego Portales), will lead a veteran team through a challenging schedule which includes seven of the 16 2010 NCAA Tournament participants beginning with National Champion Maryland on August 26.
Albany (16-6, 4-1), ranked No. 15 in the final coaches’ poll, won its second conference championship in three years last season and won an NCAA Play-In contest against Rider to advance to the 2010 NCAA Championship. Rookie of the Year Corrine McConville (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton) and fellow all-rookie choice Daphne Voormolen (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) played significant roles in the Great Danes’ successful season, along with rising senior Christina Patrick (Reading, Pa./Reading Catholic). Patrick, a first-team all-conference forward, recorded a team-high 41 points (16 g, 9 a), followed by Voormolen’s 23 points (11 g, 1 a), including the overtime game-winning goal in the America East Championship title game. 2010 Goalkeeper of the Year Kristi Troch (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton) enters her junior year minding the Albany net. The Great Danes begin the season on August 27 at Robert Morris before welcoming Stanford to Albany on August 31.
New Hampshire (14-7, 5-0) captured last year’s regular-season championship before falling to the Great Danes in the America East Championship final on the Wildcats’ Memorial Field. Losing just one player to graduation, UNH appears to have the tools for another successful season, including All-American Whitney Frates (Woodstock, Vt./Kimball Union Academy) and first-team all-conference honoree Kyle Lyons (White River Junction, Vt./Kimball Union Academy). Frates, a forward, and Lyons, a back, both finished with a team-high 11 goals last year as juniors. The Wildcats also return top point-getter senior Hayley Rausch (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park; 9 g, 13 a) and senior defender Kendall Deck (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan), both recognized on the America East Second Team. UNH opens the season August 27 at National Semifinalist Ohio State.
Maine (13-6, 2-3) has boasted the league’s top offense in each of the last two seasons, led by All-American senior forward Kelly Newton (Vancouver, British Columbia/Crofton House), the 2010 America East Offensive Player of the Year and a former Rookie of the Year.
Forwards Newton (19 g, 7 a) and classmate Jocelyn Mitchell (Kanata, Ontario/Earl of March Secondary; 16 g, 5 a) finished first and second in the league with 2.37 and 1.95 points per game, respectively. Fellow Canadian Stephanie Gardiner (Vancouver, British Columbia/Crofton House), a senior midfielder, ranked fourth with 1.74 points per game on 13 goals and seven assists. The Black Bears start the 2011 season with two straight home contests against Northeastern and Siena on August 26 and 28.
Fairfield (9-9, 1-4) finished 2010 with its best overall win percentage (.500) since joining America East as an associate member prior to the 2007 season. Head Coach Jackie Kane and the Stags hope to build off that momentum in 2011. Senior forward Marit Westenberg (The Hague, Netherlands/Maeriant Lyceum), recognized on the 2010 all-conference second team, emerged as an offensive threat last year with 11 goals, and all-rookie pick Shealyn Testa (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton) is back for her sophomore campaign in the midfield. The Stags make the trek to Philadelphia to open 2011 at Saint Joseph’s on August 27.
Vermont (5-13, 0-5) returns three of its top four point-getters from the 2010 squad, including junior forward Taylor Silvestro (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) who scored a team-high-tying seven goals for 14 points. Second-team all-conference midfielder Alana Izzo (Stowe, Vt./Stowe) is also part of that group with one goal, four assists and six points a year ago. The Catamounts host regional foes Boston College and Massachusetts during the season-opening weekend.
2011 Preseason Poll
Rank Team (1st-place votes) Total
1. Boston University (3) 23
2. Albany (2) 21
T-3. New Hampshire (1) 16
Maine 16
T-5. Fairfield 7
Vermont 7