CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - In search of a victory to snap its five-game winless streak, University of Hartford got a pair of clutch performances to earn that win and has swept America East's men's soccer weekly awards for the week ending October 21 as a result. The honorees were announced Monday morning.
The Hawks' Anthony Santaga scored the lone goal in a 1-0 road win over Binghamton on Saturday to garner Player of the Week honors while teammate Viltsu Tuumi match his career high in saves to pick up Rookie of the Week honors for the second time this season.
Santaga (Green Bay, Wis.) lifted Hartford to its first America East win of the year to pick up his first career Player of the Week award. The junior forward scored in the ninth minute off a feed from rookie defender Simon Turesson, the game's lone score. The goal, Santaga's seventh overall this year, was his third game-winning tally. He leads Hartford in points (17), which is tied for fourth in the conference, and second in goals (7), which is fifth among league leaders.
Tuumi (Pori, Finland) matched his career-high with nine saves in the shutout over the Bearcats to earn Rookie of the Week honors. The freshman goalkeeper, who also earned weekly accolades on Oct. 1, made six of those stops after halftime to pick up his third career shutout. Tuumi has played every minute between the posts for the Hawks and owns a .769 save percentage and 1.36 goals-against average.
with just one week left in the regular season, very little has been decided in the America East Championship picture. University of Vermont (6-4-5, 3-0-2 AE, 11 pts.) is the lone team to have secured a bid for the tournament and did so via a scoreless tie with UNH Saturday. Stony Brook University (9-4-2, 3-2-0 AE, 9 pts.)sits two points behind the Catamounts in second place and can earn a tournament bid with a win Wednesday. Vermont and Stony Brook will meet on the final day of the regular season.
Just four points separates the rest of the league. Boston U. (5-7-4, 2-2-2 AE, 8 pts.) is in third place after it picked up its first win in three games, a 2-0 victory over Albany Saturday. UMBC (8-4-4, 2-2-1 AE, 7 pts.) is next in fourth place following its 2-1 road win at Stony Brook. The Retrievers are followed by University at Albany (5-10-0, 2-3-0 AE, 6 pts.) and Binghamton (6-8-0, 2-3-0 AE, 6 pts.), University of New Hampshire (5-6-4, 1-2-2 AE, 5 pts.) and Hartford (7-7-1, 1-3-1 AE, 4 pts.).
Conference play continues Wednesday when Albany hosts Vermont, Hartford visits UMBC, Boston U. welcomes Binghamton and UNH heads to Stony Brook. The regular season will conclude Saturday when the Catamounts hosts the Seawolves, the Hawks entertains the Great Danes, the Bearcats goes to UMBC and the Terriers visit the Wildcats.
2012 America East Men's Soccer Weekly Award Winners
Aug. 27 - Player of the Week: Scott Kisling (Vermont); Rookie of the Week: Alejandro Fritz (Stony Brook)
Sept. 4 - Player of the Week: Pete Caringi III (UMBC); Rookie of the Week: Anthony Rozzano (Albany)
Sept. 10 - Co-Players of the Week: Travis Worra (New Hampshire), Conor Leland (Vermont); Rookie of the Week: Javoni Simms (Hartford)
Sept. 17 - Player of the Week: Leonardo Fernandes (Stony Brook); Rookie of the Week: Javoni Simms (Hartford)
Sept. 24 - Player of the Week: Milo Kapor (UMBC); Rookie of the Week: Martin Giordano (Stony Brook)
Oct. 1 - Player of the Week: Jake Keegan (Binghamton); Rookie of the Week: Viltsu Tuumi (Hartford)
Oct. 8 - Player of the Week: Joe Losier (Vermont); Rookie of the Week: Carlos Ruiz (Boston U.)
Oct. 15 - Player of the Week: Pete Caringi III (UMBC); Rookie of the Week: Kit Alexieff (Albany)
Oct. 22 - Player of the Week: Anthony Santaga (Hartford); Rookie of the Week: Viltsu Tuumi (Hartford)