ALBANY, N.Y. - The University at Albany field hockey team is set to take on the America East Tournament this week.
 
Masks are required for all fans not fully vaccinated. Masks will be required for all fans inside all campus buildings, including stadium bathrooms.
 
Should the Great Danes win in Thursday's quarterfinal, they will move on to the semifinal game against Monmouth on Friday.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
America East Tournament
SITE: UMaine Field Hockey Complex - Orono, Maine
STATS: GoBlackBears.com
STREAM: AE.TV
 
America East Quarterfinal - UAlbany vs. Stanford
DATE: Thursday, November 4
TIME: 3:00 PM
RECORDS: UAlbany 9-8, 6-2 America East; Stanford 4-8, 3-5 America East
SERIES RECORD: 6-3, Stanford leads
 
America East Semifinal - Winner of above quarterfinal vs. Monmouth
DATE: Friday, November 5
TIME: 3:00 PM
RECORDS: Monmouth 12-5, 6-2 America East
SERIES RECORD*: 4-3, Monmouth leads
 
*UAlbany series record against Monmouth
 
GREAT DANE REWIND

• The Great Danes opened the season with a 5-1 win over Colgate (8/27) before falling 2-1 against Fairfield (8/29).
• UAlbany beat Wagner (9/3), 4-1, for its first road game of the season but followed it up with three losses to UMass (9/5), No. 9 Penn State (9/10), and Columbia (9/12). During the final weekend of pre-conference games, the Great Danes earned a victory over Cornell (9/17) and a loss against No. 1 Michigan (9/18).
• To open America East play, UAlbany bested Vermont in a 3-2 overtime win on September 26.
• The Great Danes won three-straight conference teams in one-goal games - Stanford (10/8), New Hampshire (10/10), and UMass Lowell (10/15) - before falling to Monmouth (10/22).
• UAlbany closed the regular season beating UC Davis (10/29), 5-4, and California (10/31), 2-1, in overtime.
• Senior Robyn Murray scored the first goal of the season on August 27.
• Freshman Alison Smisdom leads the team with 36 points from 16 goals and four assists. The freshman scored her first career hat trick at Wagner before tallying a second one against California.
• Five Great Danes are tied in second with three goals each - sophomore Lara Mortz, junior Julia Rodijk, sophomore Charlotte Triggs, freshman Floor de Ruiter, and senior Elaina Burchell.
• Half of the field players (nine student-athletes) have contributed at least one point, with eight different goal scorers.
• In net, freshman Lara Behn leads the goalies with a .679 save percentage in 778:55.
• The Great Danes have totaled 33 goals from 122 shots and 124 penalty corners in 17 games.

 
2021 GREATS

• Freshman Alison Smisdom has tallied one Division I weekly award, four America East weekly awards, and two UAlbany Athlete of the Week honors.
  • After earning her first career hat trick (at Wagner, 9/3), Smisdom was named the America East Offensive Player and Rookie of the Week as well as the UAlbany Female Athlete of the Week.
  • The first year earned her second conference Rookie of the Week award after scoring one game-winning goal, in overtime, and assisting the game-tying goal at Vermont (9/26).
  • The rookie's most recent weekend saw five goals in two games. Scoring her second career hat trick against UC Davis (10/29) and tallying both goals in a 2-1 overtime win against California (10/31), Smisdom was named the NFHCA Division I Offensive Player of the Week, America East Offensive Player of the Week, America East Rookie of the Week, and UAlbany Female Athlete of the Week.
• Freshman Floor de Ruiter tallied her first America East Rookie of the Week honor after scoring the game-winning goal against Stanford (10/8) with the game-tying goal against New Hampshire (10/10)
• Most recently, sophomore Lara Mortz was named the UAlbany Female Athlete of the Week after scoring the game-winning goal against UMass Lowell (10/15).

 
POSTSEASON SUCCESS

• The America East All-Conference awards were announced with four Great Danes being honored.
  • Freshman Alison Smisdom was named the Rookie of the Year as well as earning a spot on the First Team and the All-Rookie Team
  • Junior Julie Rodijk notched a spot on the Second Team.
  • Lara Behn and Floor de Ruiter rounded out the UAlbany honors with All-Rookie nods.

 
ABOUT STANFORD

• The Cardinals have earned a season record of 4-8 with a 3-5 conference record, playing almost the entire season without a goalkeeper.
• Stanford opened the season with a 2-1 non-conference record before beginning conference play on Sept. 24. 
• Throughout the conference season, the Cardinals found victories over Vermont (9/24), UC Davis (10/1), and UMass Lowell (10/31) with losses against Maine (9/26), UAlbany (10/8), Monmouth (10/10), California (10/22), and New Hampshire (10/29).
• Haley Mossmer leads the team with eight goals and 17 points.
• Lily Croddick follows with nine points with three goals and a team-high three assists.
• Defender Cara Sambeth has spent some time in net, collecting three saves in 112:38. She also leads the team with nine defensive saves.

 
SERIES AGAINST THE CARDINALS

• Stanford holds a 6-3 lead over UAlbany in the all-time series.
• The Great Danes earned their first win of the series since 2014 earlier this season, beating the Cardinals, 2-1, on October 8. Alison Smisdom scored the first goal with Floor de Ruiter tallying the eventual game-winning goal.
• Their 2020-21 meeting resulted in a 3-2 overtime loss at home to close the season in the spring of 2021. Prior to the Cardinals' game-winning goal, Elaina Burchell scored to tie the game and bring it to overtime.
• Former Great Danes, Katie MacCallum and Cosima Rocktaeschel scored for UAlbany.

 
ABOUT MONMOUTH

• The Hawks opened their season against Boston University (Aug. 27) before winning four games against Northeastern (8/29), Fairfield (9/3), No. 17 Delaware (9/5), and Villanova (9/10). 
• Monmouth closed the non-conference portion of their season 5-3 after beating Providence (9/19) and falling to No. 15 Harvard (9/12) and No. 10 Rutgers (9/17).
• Since opening the conference season with two losses - Maine (9/24) and Vermont (9/26) - the Hawks have won six straight games to finish with a 6-2 America East record.
• Annick van Lange, recently named the America East Offensive Player of the Year, leads the team and conference with 17 goals and 39 points.
• Hanna McKie (12) and Lorane Vanneste (10) have each scored double-digit goals throughout the season. Vanneste leads the team with seven assists.
• Ally Tarantino (460:04) and Kate O'Hogan (553:39) have shared time in goal. O'Hogan leads with 10 starts, seven wins, a 1.52 goals against average, and a 0.707 save percentage.

 
SERIES AGAINST THE HAWKS

• Monmouth holds the lead in the all-time series, 4-3. 
• After joining the America East in 2019, the Hawks have a 4-0 run against UAlbany. 
• Most recently, Monmouth beat the Great Danes in a shutout on October 22. 
• UAlbany last beat the Hawks in 2015, winning by a single goal.

 
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST

• Maine (#1) and Monmouth (#2) finished the season with their respective conference rankings to earn a bye to the semifinals of the America East Tournament.
• UAlbany finished third and will play sixth-seeded Stanford in the quarterfinals on Thursday, November 4.
• California (fourth seed) and New Hampshire (fifth seed) will open the tournament with the first quarterfinal game on Thursday, November 4.
• Vermont (seventh), UMass Lowell (eighth), and UC Davis (ninth) did not make the tournament and closed the season in their final regular season standings.

 
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEKEND
Thursday

• AE QF: #4 California vs. #5 New Hampshire, 12 pm
• AE QF: #3 UAlbany vs. #6 Stanford, 3 pm

Friday

• AE SF: #1 Maine vs. California/New Hampshire winner, 12 pm
• AE SF: #2 Monmouth vs UAlbany/Stanford winner, 3 pm

Sunday

• AE Championship: Semifinal winners, 1 pm

For more information on the University at Albany field hockey team, follow the squad's official social media accounts shown below.
Twitter - @ualbanyfh
Instagram - @ualbanyfh
Facebook – facebook.com/UAlbanyFH