CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- With the start of conference play this week, the University of Maine is the hottest team in America East with a 10-game win streak and the top offense in the country. After their latest two-win week, the Black Bears take home two weekly awards as sophomore midfielder Alexa Binnendijk (Den Haag, Holland/VCL) is the America East Player of the Week and freshman forward Holly Stewart (North Vancouver, British Columbia) garners the Rookie of the Week award. Boston University freshman Valentina Cerda's (Santiago, Chile) goalkeeping performance earns her a share of the Rookie of the Week accolade for the period ending September 25.
Binnendijk proved to be a valuable member of Maine's offensive penalty corner unit, scoring four goals last week all on the set play to help the team extend its win streak to 10 games.
On Saturday, the sophomore midfielder tallied her first career hat trick in a neutral-site game against Lehigh. The very next day, Binnendijk blasted a goal into the net on a penalty corner to give the Black Bears a 2-1 advantage over Quinnipiac in an eventual 3-2 overtime win. Binnendijk has nine goals this season for 18 points to rank seventh in America East.
Stewart helped Maine rout Lehigh on Saturday with her first career hat trick. The freshman doubled her season goal total in just one game, scoring a penalty corner goal in the first half, and then striking twice off rebounds in the second half of Saturday's win. Stewart ranks among America East leaders in both goals and points.
Cerda came off the bench against #5 Syracuse to register a superb performance in goal. Playing the final 30:49 of the game, the rookie saved all 10 shots she faced to allow the Terriers to stay in the contest and nearly rally back for the road win.
Cerda tops the nation and the conference in save percentage (.844), while ranking second in America East in goals-against-average (1.08).
Team Notebooks:
No. 16 University at Albany (8-3, 0-0 America East) went 3-0 this week; posting a 8-0 shutout at Siena and two come-from-behind wins in Easton, Pa. against Monmouth and Lafayette... Six different Great Danes found the back of the cage in the rout against the Saints... Katharina Helling (Hamburg, Germany/Uni. of Melbourne) and Chantae Miller (East Amherst, N.Y./Michigan State) led Albany with two goals each... With Monmouth, the Great Danes fell behind quickly as the Hawks scored in the first minute of play... Corrine McConville (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton) would find the equalizer with a shot off a rebound... Nina Walters (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) connected on the tip-in shot early in the 41st minute to give Albany the go-ahead... At Lafayette, there was a total of 10 shots... The Leopards connected in the 16th minute off a rebound and held the 1-0 lead until the 53rd minute... The Great Danes were awarded a penalty stroke and took advantage as McConville fired one past the goalkeeper... As the final minute approached, Christina Patrick (Reading, Pa./Reading Catholic) found the back of the cage to score her fourth game-winner this season, seventh overall... Kristi Troch (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton) made seven saves on the week, allowing two goals and shared a shutout with Sammie Rimback (Washington, N.J./Warren Hills) at Siena... Albany has outscored its opponents, 20-6, in the second half.
No. 17 Boston University (5-4, 0-0 AE) split its road weekend, posting a 3-0 win at Massachusetts on Friday before falling just short in a 3-2 contest at No. 5 Syracuse on Sunday... Junior Tabi Hatch (Green Lane, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) scored two goals against the Minutewomen and classmate Jess Maroney (Media, Pa./Penncrest) made six saves in goal to earn the shutout... Senior Giovanna Monaco (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) added her first goal of the season for Boston U., which defeated UMass for the ninth straight time... Sophomores Madeleine Hackett (Shavertown, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) and Kat Spring (Concord, Mass./Lawrence Academy) each recorded an assist in the victory... Junior Macey Gaumond (Warren, Mass./Quaboag) scored her team-leading seventh tally of the year in the game against the Orange with an assist from senior Kate Murphy (Millbury, Mass./Notre Dame Academy)... Sophomore Amira Downes (Harwichport, Mass./Harwich) posted her first collegiate goal when she answered the Orange's first tally to make it a 1-1 game at the half... Freshman Valentina Cerda (Santiago, Chile/Deutsche Schule Santiago) stopped all 10 shots she faced while playing the final 30:49 in goal against Syracuse... The Terriers will open America East play on Saturday (Oct. 1) when they host Vermont in a 3:30 start at Jordan Field.
The Stags (7-2, 0-0 AE) and goalkeeper Maddy Sposito had back to back shutouts this week against Sacred Heart University and Holy Cross... The team has not allowed a goal in 253 consecutive minutes dating back to Saint Francis on September 11... The Stags have now had four shutouts in nine games... After the week, the team's GAA lowered to 1.00 and the goalkeepers' save percentage went up to .786... Freshman Sarah Wickles had the game-winning goal against Holy Cross with 20 minutes left in the game, moving her up to third on the team with five points on the season (two goals and one assist)... Wickles' shot percentage is the second highest on the team at .250... Christy Starsinic also had a good week scoring both of the goals in the 2-0 win over Sacred Heart. One of her goals was less than a minute into the game... Fairfield returns to play at the University of New Hampshire on September 30 at 3p.
No. 14 Maine (10-1, 0-0 AE) improved its record to 10-1 while moving its winning streak to 10 straight after defeating Lehigh, 11-0, and Quinnipiac, 3-2 in overtime, over the weekend... Alexa Binnendijk (Den Haag, Holland) and Holly Stewart (North Vancouver, British Columbia) each tallied their first career hat tricks in the win over Lehigh... Kelly Newton (Vancouver, British Columbia) tallied two goals and three assists for a seven-point weekend as she notched the gamewinner just 46 seconds into overtime against Quinnipiac... Newton's first assist on Saturday was her 16th of the season and 40th of her career. With that assist, Newton became the University of Maine record holder for assists in a season (16), passing Morgan Brady who tallied 15 assists in 2001. Newton also became the all-time assists leader with her 40th assist, passing Annie Elkanich who notched 39 assists in her career spanning from 1993-97. Newton's points streak has now reached 18 straight games, dating back to Oct. 10, 2010... Becca Paradee (Gardiner, Maine) notched her first career point with the Black Bears as the freshman assisted on Maine's first goal against Lehigh... Jocelyn Mitchell (Kanata, Ontario) tallied three points over the weekend and now sits at 99 total for her career... The Black Bears continued their fierce offensive attack as they outshot this weekend's opponents, 51-5... Maine is now averaging 5.55 goals per game while allowing 1.36 goals against... The Black Bears have already notched 61 goals on the year, just 11 short of the record of 72 goals scored during the 2009 season... The Black Bears begin conference play when they host Albany on Oct. 1 at 1 p.m.
No. 7 UNH (8-2, 0-0 AE) traveled to Louisville to face a pair of nationally-ranked teams and returned home with a 5-4 loss to #15 Northwestern and a 3-1 setback to #19 Louisville… The Wildcats are now 2-2 vs. nationally-ranked teams this season… The No. 7 national ranking marked the first time since October 1997 the team was ranked higher than 10th and the highest ranking since September 1995 (No. 5)… The Wildcats entered the weekend as the national leader in defense with six goals allowed through eight games… Hayley Rausch (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) extended her goal-scoring streak to eight games and point-scoring streak to 10 games with a goal and an assist vs. Northwestern and a goal against Louisville… Rausch entered last week’s action as the national leader in points per game and #2 ranking in goals per game… Katherine Nagengast (Westborough, Mass./Westborough) also ranked in the top 10 in two statistics at #4 in goals-against-average and #8 in save percentage while Whitney Frates (Woodstock, Vt./Kimball Union Academy) was 13th in both points per game and goals per game… In four relief appearances totaling 100 minutes, goalkeeper Carlie Tarbell (Wakefield, Mass./The Rivers School) has not surrendered a goal; she held Northwestern scoreless for the final 28:54 with a three-save effort… UNH looks to remain unbeaten at home (4-0 at Memorial Field) this season when the ‘Cats play host to Fairfield in their America East conference opener Sept. 30.
Vermont (5-4, 0-0 AE) won its only game of the week, topping Siena at home on Saturday, 4-1… Four different Catamounts scored to help snap a two-game slide, as UVM improved to 5-4 on the year and matched its win total from the 2010 season… Senior Sarah Becque (Westborough, Mass./Westborough) scored her first of the season to give Vermont a 1-0 lead just before halftime… Freshman Anna Krane (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton) and sophomore Sally Snickenberger (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) each scored their first career goals in a Catamount uniform in the contest… Senior Allison Barnaby (Hampton, N.H./Governor Dummer Academy) wrapped up the scoring with her second of the season… Vermont held a 30-4 shot advantage in the contest… Vermont has now won three straight home games by a combined margin of 10-2… The Cats improve to 11-1 all-time against Siena… The four goals match a season high for the Catamounts… Vermont returns to action with a busy week that includes three games in five days… UVM opens at home with Dartmouth on Wednesday (2 p.m.) and then travels to open America East play at Boston U. on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) and wraps up the weekend at Harvard on Sunday (2 p.m.).