CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - After recording a pair of 1-0 wins last week, University of Maine has swept America East women's soccer weekly awards for the week ending Sept. 11. The Black Bears' Courtney Harnais (Braintree, Mass./Notre Dame Acad.) earned Player of the Week recognition while Jordan Pellerin (Waterville, Maine/Waterville) garnered Rookie of the Week honors.
Harnais scored both of Maine’s goals last week in consecutive 1-0 victories over Holy Cross and Rhode Island. The senior forward tallied her first goal of the season in the 56th minute of the Black Bears’ win over the Crusaders Wednesday. She then scored again, her fifth career tally, in the 26th minute of her team’s victory over Rhode Island on Sunday afternoon.
Pellerin assisted on Harnais’ game-winning goal in Maine’s over URI. The freshman forward delivered a pass to Harnais, who put home a long shot in the 26th minute and goalkeeper Meagan Price-Leibenzeder made seven saves to earn her third shutout of the year. Pellerin, who has played in all five games for Maine this season, has two assists and is tied for second among America East leaders with 0.40 assists per game.
The Black Bears are now unbeaten in their last three games and have three wins through five games for the first time since 2006. Hartford also had a successful weekend as the Hawks improved to 5-0-1, its best start since 1999.
Team Notes
Albany (2-4-0) dropped two non-conference matches to Colgate and La Salle ... Both matches were moved to the neutral site of Plumeri Sports Complex in Albany because of field conditions at Varsity Field on the Albany campus ... The Great Danes fell to Colgate, 4-1, on Friday, before dropping a 3-0 decision to La Salle on Sunday ... Chelsea DeVerna (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) scored the lone goal for Albany on the week, taking an assist from freshman Kerrianne Madigan (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) ... Freshman goalkeeper Jacky Ubert (Amityville, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) played the second half against Colgate before earning the start and the complete-game effort against La Salle ... Ubert made nine saves in the two games... The Great Danes will return to action on Friday, on the road at Central Connecticut State.
Binghamton (3-4-0) dropped its only game of the week - a 1-0 overtime heartbreaker at reigning MAAC champion Siena. The team’s other scheduled game (Sept. 7 vs. Bucknell) was canceled after devastating floods hit the Binghamton region ... At Siena, the Bearcats battled the Saints into overtime before surrendering the game-winning goal 7:03 into the extra session. Sophomore keeper Carrie Martin (Cincinnati, Ohio/McNicholas) made six saves. The Bearcats were outshot 14-13 ... This week Binghamton plays at nearby Ivy League member Cornell (Wednesday) in its final non-conference game and then has 11 days off before America East play opens on September 25.
Boston University (5-2-1), which was ranked No. 20 last week, dropped a pair of matches to Connecticut, 3-0, and Massachusetts, 1-0, over the weekend … On Friday night, the Terriers were handed their first loss of the season by the Huskies as they were unable to recover from three second-half goals … Two days later, Boston U. was shutout in Amherst, Mass., as the Minutewomen tallied the game winner at 22:42 … Boston U. outshot UMass, 22-3, and sophomore Madison Clemens and Megan McGoldrick led all players with five shots apiece, but the squad struggled to find the back of the net … Boston U. returns to action this week as it hosts Harvard on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Hartford (5-0-1) sophomore transfer keeper Erin Quinlan (Saugus, Mass./The Governors Academy) played a perfect 180 minutes between the pipes, leading the Hawks to a 2-0 record with 1-0 shutouts of Quinnipiac and Long Island last week … Against the Bobcats, junior Caitlin Alves (Ludlow, Mass./The Williston Northampton School) scored her team leading fourth goal of the season in the 28th minute. Alves collected an uncontrolled save by Bobcats keeper Jill Kelley just off the goal line and used the backside of her cleat to push it over the threshold … fifth-year Hawk Mary Beth Hamilton (Columbia, Conn./Mercy) used her size and athleticism late in the game against Long Island to help the Hawks remain unbeaten in 2011 with a goal in the 88th minute … Hamilton stole a clear attempt away from the Blackbirds and battled one-on-one with LIU keeper Jennifer Bannon, winning the battle and eventually the match … Quinlan has now gone more than 469 minutes scoreless in goal, since allowing a single goal against ODU in the season opener … Quinlan has collected 22 saves on the season, sporting a .957 save percentage, while her stinginess has led to an impressive 0.17 goals-against-average … the Hawks will play two games in the coming week, both being played at Marist … the Hawks will take on Lafayette on Friday at 4:30 p.m. before battling the Cornell Big Red on Sunday at 12 p.m.
Maine (3-1-1) won a pair of 1-0 games on the week ... Maine defeated Holy Cross 1-0 on Tuesday afternoon, before earning a 1-0 victory over Rhode Island on Sunday afternoon ... Senior striker Courtney Harnais (Braintree, Mass.) notched Maine’s lone goal in each game to finish the week with a pair of game-winning goals ... Harnais has two goals on the season and both are game-winners ... Meagan Price-Leibenzeder (Surrey, British Columbia) recorded a pair of shutouts on the week ... All three of her victories this season have come via a shutout ... Kaitlyn MacIsaac (Bedford, Nova Scotia) entered her senior season with one career assist ... She is tied for the team-lead in assists with two this year in five games... Maine hits the road next weekend for games at Massachusetts on Friday afternoon and at Dartmouth on Sunday afternoon.
UMBC (0-6-0) fell to Towson, 3-1, on Friday in its lone game of the week… The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute, but the Retrievers found the equalizer less than 10 minutes later… Junior midfielder Aly Gazarek (Aldie, Va./Freedom/South Florida) sent a cross to freshman midfielder Lilly Rydon (Stirling, South Australia/Concordia College), whose header found the foot of sophomore forward Amy Savage (Ottawa, Ontario/Sir Wilfrid Laurier), who was alone in front of the net in the 37th minute … The score remained knotted at 1-1 at halftime, but Towson scored two unanswered goals in the second half … Senior goalie Mo Van Vlerah (Germantown, Md./Northwest) recorded a season-high seven saves … She ranks seventh all-time at UMBC with 159 career stops, while sophomore Lauren Kadet (Oakville, Ontario/St. Thomas Aquinas) is ninth with 132 … Savage’s goal was her second of the season … She leads the Retrievers with five points, one shy of her career high… Savage is tied with junior forward Rachel McKee (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron) for the team lead with two goals and 14 shots … Just a sophomore, Savage is already UMBC’s active career leading scorer with 11 points … UMBC hosts Saint Joseph’s Wednesday evening, then visits VMI on Friday.
New Hampshire (1-5-0) finished its most recent week of action 1-1 ... Most recently the Wildcats fell to Northeastern University, 2-1, at Lewis Fields on Sept. 11 ... Jordyn Krall (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) scored New Hampshire’s lone tally in the contest at 1:07 ... Chelsea Kuss (Warners, N.Y./West Genesee) was credited with the assist on the play ... Northeastern outshot UNH 17-6 in the contest, including a 10-2 edge in the second frame ... The Huskies also held the edge in corner kicks by a margin of 8-3 ... Erica Correa (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) registered a game-high five saves in the loss ... In the game prior the Wildcats took down the University of Rhode Island, 1-0, on Sept. 9 at the URI Soccer Complex ... Stephanie Gilkenson (Cranston, R.I./LaSalle Academy) scored a goal in the 24th minute of the first half to propel the Wildcats to victory ... Taylor Finley (Bedford, N.H./Manchester West) and Meghan Ledwith (Yardley, Pa./Villa Joseph Marie) were both credited with assists on the play ... Rhode Island held a 10-9 advantage in total shots, but UNH put seven attempts on goal compared to just four by the Rams ... New Hampshire held an 8-2 edge in shots in the first stanza ... The Wildcats are back in action Thursday, Sept. 15 (4:30 p.m.) when they host Brown University at Lewis Fields.
Stony Brook (1-6-0) dropped two matches last week to Long Island, 2-1 in overtime, on Friday and Fordham, 2-0, on Sunday...On Friday, junior Taryn Schoenbeck (Newark, Del./Padua Academy) tied the score at one apiece with 2:05 remaining in regulation off a free kick from 25 yards out... It was Schoenbeck’s second goal of the season; both of her goals have come with less than 10 minutes remaining in regulation ... Schoenbeck leads the team with two goals and five points in seven matches so far this season ... On Sunday, sophomore Ashley Castanio (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) made five stops in net, while freshman Allyson Lambros (La Habra, Calif./La Habra) made two saves in 20 minutes in her first collegiate action...Stony Brook will look to snap a six-game losing streak on Friday when it welcomes Army to LaValle Stadium at 7 p.m. ... the Seawolves will also face Fairfield on Sunday in Fairfield, Conn. at 2 p.m.
Vermont (2-3-2) moved to 2-3-2 overall with a 0-1-1 week ... The Catamounts, who are in the midst of a six-game road swing, dropped a 2-1 decision at Dartmouth on Friday ... It was the closest margin of victory for the Big Green vs. UVM in eight tries and Midori Eckenstein (South Burlington, Vt./South Burlington) snapped a seven-game shutout streak by Dartmouth with her first goal of the year ... UVM also played to a 1-1 draw in double-overtime at Brown ... Alexandra Dezenzo (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Academy) scored her first career goal five minutes into the second half, but Brown countered 47 seconds later to knot the game up ... Sarah Leiby (West Chester, Pa. / W.C. Bayard Rustin) made eight saves to preserve the draw ... Vermont will play its third straight Ivy League opponent on Friday (Sept. 16) when it faces Yale in New Haven, Conn. at 7 p.m.