ALBANY, N.Y. – Vermont capped off an improbable week with a 3-2 comeback victory in the 2024 America East Field Hockey Championship to clinch the program’s first-ever field hockey crown.
The Catamounts had never won a game in the #AEFH Championship prior to this week, but used a pair of shutout victories to advance to Sunday’s title bout. UVM then trailed New Hampshire 2-0 at the half of Sunday’s contest, before storming back with three unanswered goals to complete the dream week.
Sophia Lefranc was honored as the Most Outstanding Player of the Championship after scoring all three of the team’s goals in the opening two contests. She added three shots in the title game while playing nearly the entire contest.
Vermont will learn their tournament fate tonight in the 2024 NCAA Field Hockey Selection Show at 10 p.m. on NCAA.com.
How It Happened:
- The Wildcats grabbed a 1-0 advantage just 25 seconds into the contest as Kathelijne Knuttel scored on their first penalty corner of the afternoon.
- UNH pushed the lead to 2-0 late in the second quarter, as Faye Meijer ripped a shot into the back of the cage at 28:21.
- UNH nearly made it 3-0 early in the third, but Merle Vaandrager stopped the breakaway attempt.
- Vermont broke through less than two minutes later as Meg Weyer finished off a pass from Sophia Drees right in front of the cage.
- The Catamounts evened it up at 35:30 as Marie Dijkstra escaped for a breakaway and slid her shot under Abby Johnson’s pads for the goal.
- Johnson made two more point-blank saves in the final five minutes of the third to keep it tied 2-2.
- Just 25 seconds into the fourth, UVM earned a penalty corner and Weyer deflected Lotte Kanters’ shot from the edge of the shooting circle for a 3-2 lead.
- Merle Vaandrager finished with five saves to secure the victory for UVM.
Lefranc was one of four Catamounts named to the All-Championship team, alongside Sophia Drees, Lotte Kanters and Merle Vaandrager. UNH’s Kathelijne Knuttel, Tasmin Cookman and Nicole Poulakis were honored for UNH. The other members of the team were Zoe Mohrman (UC Davis), Madison Leeper (UML), Poppy Lambert (Maine), Kate Richardson (Maine), Floor de Ruiter (UAlbany) and Alison Smisdom (UAlbany).
New Hampshire’s Brecken Calcari was recognized as the winner of the Elite 18 award for having the highest GPA of any player in Sunday’s championship. The junior Business Administration major owns a 3.98 GPA.
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Founded in 1979, the America East Conference is an elite NCAA Division I athletic conference that fosters an environment for student-athletes to become champions. Comprised of academically renowned, like-minded member institutions located in the Northeast region of the United States, America East is committed to broad-based excellence and progressive in its approach to supporting its more than 3,500 student-athletes across 18 sponsored sports. For more information, visit www.AmericaEast.com and follow the America East Conference and its social media channels, @AmericaEast.
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