University of Massachusets Athletics
Field Hockey Hosts Vermont, #19 Albany This Weekend
September 22, 2010 | Field Hockey
Sept. 22, 2010
AMHERST, Mass. -
After playing five out of the last six games on the road, the UMass field hockey team (3-5) returns home this weekend for a pair of non-conference games against regional foes. On Friday, the Minutewomen host Vermont (4-4) under the lights at Garber Field in a 6 p.m. contest. On Sunday, No. 19 Albany (5-2) comes to Amherst for a 2 p.m. game. Note that Sunday's game was originally scheduled for 1 p.m. but has been moved to 2 p.m.
UMASS FIELD HOCKEY ON TV
UMass and CBS3 Springfield have reached an agreement where 100 UMass sporting events in the 2010-11 season will air live on CBS 3 Now starting this August. The channel can be seen on Comcast Digital Cable channel 293 in Western Massachusetts and will soon air on both Charter and Time Warner cable systems.
Friday's game vs. Vermont will air live on CBS 3 Now at 6 p.m. with Adam Frenier calling the action. Remaining televised games also include Oct. 3 vs. Syracuse, Oct. 9 vs. Saint Louis, Oct. 15 vs. Lock Haven, and Oct. 24 vs. Saint Joseph's.
As always, UMass field hockey's home games will also be webcast on UMass All-Access, while free live stats will be available online via GameTracker.
Check UMassAthletics.com or CBS3 Springfield.com for up-to-date broadcast schedules of UMass games.
UMASS TAKING ON THE BEST
With two road games last weekend, UMass completed a stretch of four out of five games against defending conference champions for the Minutewomen. After falling 2-1 at America East champion Boston University three weekends ago, the Minutewomen defeated the Big East champion Huskies on Sept. 11, 1-0. Last weekend, the No. 20 Minutewomen fell at No. 18 American, 2-0, and at No. 2 Maryland, 3-0.
The Minutewomen host more elite competition on successive weekends, Sunday vs. No. 19 Albany and Oct. 3 vs. No. 9 Syracuse.
Three of UMass' losses have come by one goal and all five have come to teams that were either ranked at the time or are currently ranked. On the opening weekend of the season, No. 9 Boston College and No. 17 Indiana slipped by the Minutewomen, 1-0 and 2-1, respectively. After defeating Northeastern, who is receiving votes, 2-1, UMass fell at currently No. 12 Boston University, 2-1. After knocking off No. 4 UConn and Yale, UMass fell at No. 18 American and No. 2 Maryland.
UMASS NOTES
UMass fell just out of the rankings this week, coming in as the top "others receiving votes" team in the Kookaburra/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll. Last week the Minutewomen were ranked No. 20.
Senior captain Katie Kelly leads the team with five goals on the season. She represents 62.5 percent of the team's scoring this season. Her biggest goal came in overtime on Sept. 12 to defeat Yale. She was named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week on Sept. 14.
Kelly has 30 goals in her career, tied for 20th among active Division I players.
Freshman forward Lindsay Bowman scored the first two goals of her career on Sept.11-12, and they were big ones. On Sept. 11, she scored the game's lone goal in the 1-0 victory over No. 4 UConn. On the following day, she scored the game-tying goal with 6:04 remaining before UMass eventually won in overtime at Yale. Bowman was named A-10 Rookie of the Week and UMass Co-Athlete of the Week with football quarterback Kyle Havens.
Senior defender Jaime Bourazeris has one goal and one assist on the season. Her goal was the game-winner in a 2-1 game at Northeastern.
Junior goalkeeper Alesha Widdall has been stellar between the pipes this season. She sports a 1.59 GAA with one shutout and a .776 save percentage.
Widdall ranks third in career save percentage among all active players nationally (.792) and ninth in goals against average (1.33). She ranks seventh among active goalies in minutes played (3265) and is the first non-senior on the list.
UMass has been a second half team thus far in 2010. While being slightly outshot and outcornered, as well outscored, 7-2, in the first halves of games, the Minutewomen hold the advantage over opponents after halftime in shots (49-45), corners (41-18), and are even in goals (6-6).
UMass returns nine starters from the 2009 team. Head Coach Justine Sowry also welcomes 11 new players in 2010, 10 freshmen and one transfer.
SERIES HISTORY
UMass leads the all-time series against Vermont, 9-2. The Minutewomen have won the matchup the last two years, with the last Catamounts victory coming in 2007. Last season, on Sept. 26, No. 10 UMass defeated Vermont, 2-1, in Burlington. Kara Charochak scored a first half goal and Katie Kelly scored the winner in the second half. UMass outshot UVM, 16-7.
Sunday will be just the fifth meeting between UMass and Albany, with the Minutewomen holding a 3-1 advantage. The Great Danes' lone win came in 2007, 3-1, and UMass has won narrow one-goal games the last two seasons, 2-1 at Garber Field in 2008, and 1-0 last season in Albany. Kelly scored with 23:08 remaining on Sept. 11, 2009 to give UMass the victory. Alesha Widdall made five saves as UMass was outshot, 18-9.
SCOUTING VERMONT
The Catamounts come into the game with a 4-4 record. They have won three out of four, defeating Pacific (2-1 2OT), Harvard (1-0 2OT), and William & Mary (4-2), before falling on Sunday at Virginia Commonwealth, 4-0. UVM has played one A-10 team, defeating Lock Haven, 3-1, back on Aug. 29.
Brittanie Booker leads Vermont with 11 points on five goals and one assist. Taylor Silvestro has four goals on the year, as the pair has combined for nine of the club's 14 goals.
Brooke Crane has played every minute in goal, posting a 2.10 GAA and a .778 save percentage with one shutout.
Opponents have outscored the Catamounts, 12-5 in the first half of games, outshooting them, 67-28, and outcornering them, 27-16.
Nikki Houghton is in her 13th year as head coach of the Catamounts. She has the team back at .500 in 2010 after a 1-17 season in 2009. She is 76-146 in her career.
SCOUTING ALBANY
The Great Danes come into the weekend with a 5-2 record and are ranked No. 19 in the latest Kookaburra/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll. They opened the season with three-straight wins (VCU, Hofstra, Bucknell) before falling to No. 4 UConn, 5-0, the day after UMass defeated the Huskies, 1-0. Since then, Albany has beaten Quinnipiac (3-0), lost at Michigan (4-3 2OT), and most recently defeated Saint Louis, 6-1, on Monday.
The Great Danes host Bryant on Friday before traveling to Amherst.
Christina Patrick leads the Albany offense with 14 points on six goals and two assists. Daphne Voormolen has netted five goals on the season, while Nina Walters has three goals and three assists. The Great Danes have scored 14 of their 19 goals this season after halftime.
Christine Hoffman has started every game in goal for the Great Danes. She is 2-0 with a 2.19 GAA and .609 save percentage. Kristi Troch has seen action in six of the seven games, posting a 1.44 GAA and a .815 save percentage for a 301 record.
Phil Sykes is in his seventh season as head coach of the Great Danes. In 2008, he led the team to its first ever America East Conference Championship and to the NCAA Tournament. He led Albany to a 13-5 record in 2009.
MINUTEWOMEN UPSET NO. 4 UCONN
Lindsay Bowman scored the first goal of her career off a pass from fellow freshman Mika Black to lead UMass to the upset victory over No. 4 UConn, 1-0, on Sept. 11 at Garber Field.
It was the Minutewomen's first victory over the Huskies since 2000, a span of 11 games. It is also the highest ranked opponent UMass has defeated in the Justine Sowry era, replacing last season's win over No. 9 Iowa.
UMass last defeated UConn on Sept. 30, 2000, 2-1, in Amherst. The Huskies had won the last 10 meetings.
The win was also the highest-ranked opponent UMass has beaten in 14 years, dating back to a 3-2 double-overtime victory over No. 4 James Madison on Sept. 14, 1996 in Iowa City, Iowa.
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