ALBANY, N.Y. - The #17 UAlbany field hockey team will head to Maine for the America East Championship Tournament this weekend.
Earning the second seed, the Great Danes have earned a bye and will play the winner of the third-seeded UMass Lowell/sixth-seeded Stanford quarterfinal, set to take place on Thursday, November 3 at 3 pm.
GAME INFORMATION
America East Championship Tournament
DATES: November 3-6
SITE: UMaine Field Hockey Complex - Orono, Maine
STATS:
GoBlackBears.com
Semifinal #2 - #2 UAlbany vs TBD
DATE: Friday, November 4
TIME: 3:00 PM
STREAM:
ESPN+
INT'L STREAM:
AE.TV
AE Championship
DATE: Sunday, November 6
TIME: 12:00 PM
STREAM: ESPN+
INT'L STREAM: AE.TV
GREAT DANE REWIND
- Seeing its fifth week in the top 25, UAlbany is ranked 17th in the NFHCA/Penn Monto Division I National Poll. The Great Danes entered the top 25 after two double-overtime victories against Vermont (9/30) and #16 Boston College (10/2).
- UAlbany opened the season with an explosive 5-2 victory over Northeastern. It was the Great Danes' first win in the all-time series against the Huskies.
- Facing two nationally-ranked teams - #22 Ohio State (8/28) and #11 Penn State (9/3), UAlbany saw their first two losses.
- The Great Danes went on to win five-straight games against Fairfield (9/4), Colgate (9/9), Cornell (9/11), Yale (9/18), and California (9/23).
- With a 6-2 record in the America East, UAlbany has defeated California, Vermont (9/30), UC Davis (10/9), UMass Lowell (10/14), New Hampshire (10/21), and Bryant (10/28) with losses to Maine (9/25) and Stanford (10/7).
- The Great Danes notched a bid to the America East Championship Tournament with their win over New Hampshire.
- Sophomore Alison Smisdom leads the team with 15 goals and 38 points.
- Graduate student Luisa Knapp follows with 21 points from seven goals and seven assists.
- Senior Julie Rodijk is tied with Knapp with seven goals, leading the team's defenders. She also tops the team with 1098 minutes.
- With 10 assists, sophomore Blanca Orsola leads the team.
- On defense, Smisdom has a team-high three defensive saves.
- Senior goalie Hannah Mangan has started 15 games. In 964:35 minutes, she owns a 1.24 goals against average and a .726 save percentage.
IN THE RANKINGS
- Three Great Danes hold positions in the top 40 of the national stats leaders:
- Alison Smisdom
- 9th - 0.88 goals per game
- T-9th - 2.24 points per game
- T-21st - 3 defensive saves
- Hannah Mangan
- T-7th - .800 win-loss percentage
- 17th - 1.24 goals against average
- 34th - .726 save percentage
- Blanca Orolsa
- T-16th - 0.62 assists per game
POSTSEASON AWARDS
- The America East announced its postseason awards on Wednesday, November 2. Five Great Danes were among those honored:
ABOUT #1 MAINE
- The Black Bears own a 14-4 record with an undefeated 8-0 record in conference play.
- In the America East, Maine earned a shutout against UMass Lowell (9/30) and a win in shootouts against UAlbany.
- Poppy Lambert leads the team with 21 goals and 49 points.
- Chloe Walton and Mallory Mackesy follow with 11 goals.
- Madisyn Hartley owns the team-high with 17 assists.
- Mia Borley leads tallying 940:38 in goal. With 17 starts, she owns a 1.59 goals against average and a .788 save percentage.
SERIES AGAINST THE BLACK BEARS
- The Great Danes lead the all-time series, 18-16.
- Maine has won each game since 2018 when UAlbany beat the Black Bears for the America East Championship title.
- Throughout the 2021 season, the teams met on two occasions - during the regular season and in the America East Championship.
- Both contests resulted in a 2-1 loss for UAlbany however the title game went into shootouts after two overtime periods.
- Earlier this season, the Great Danes fell in shootouts for the second-straight game.
ABOUT #3 UMASS LOWELL
- The River Hawks have a 13-6 record with a 6-2 conference record.
- In the America East, UMass Lowell has defeated Stanford (9/16), UC Davis (9/18), New Hampshire (9/25), Vermont (10/7), Bryant (10/22), and California (10/28) with losses to Maine (9/30) and UAlbany (10/14).
- Jenna Berger leads the team with nine goals and 24 points.
- Mirthe Gans and Alissa de Vries are tied with seven assists.
- Eleonore Boekhorst has been in goal for all 130:54. She has worked for a 1.43 goals against average and a .733 save percentage.
SERIES AGAINST THE RIVER HAWKS
- UAlbany leads the all-time series, 13-1.
- In the most recent matchup, the Great Danes beat the River Hawks, 2-1. Alison Smisdom scored the opening goal and Floor de Ruiter tallied the assist in what proved to be the game-winning goal.
- Two seasons ago, in the spring of 2021, Robyn Murray scored the first goal in a 2-1 double-overtime win for the Great Danes.
- UAlbany currently holds a seven-game win streak over UMass Lowell.
- Earlier this season, the Great Danes hosted the River Hawks for a 3-1 victory.
ABOUT #4 VERMONT
- The Catamounts have worked for a 13-5 record with a 5-3 conference record.
- In the America East, Vermont notched wins over UC Davis (9/16), Stanford (9/18), Bryant (9/23), New Hampshire (10/14), and California (10/30) with losses to UAlbany (9/30), UMass Lowell (10/7), and Maine (10/21).
- Alina Gerke and Maddie Moran lead the team with seven goals each.
- With 10 assists and 21 points, Sophia Drees owns the team-high.
- Sierra Espeland has seen all 1059:18 in goal. She has earned a 1.36 goals against average and a .771 save percentage.
SERIES AGAINST THE CATAMOUNTS
- UAlbany leads the all-time series, 24-5.
- Last season, the Great Danes defeated Vermont in overtime, 3-2, in 2021.
- Julie Rodijk notched the first goal while Elaina Burchell tied the score with less than five minutes remaining and Alison Smisdom scored the game-winning goal with a penalty stroke in the first overtime period.
- Earlier this season, UAlbany won in double-overtime, 2-1. Floor de Ruiter scored the game-winning goal after Charlotte Triggs scored the game-tying goal with just over five minutes left in regulation.
- The last four contests in the series have been won by just one goal. In addition to the overtime victories in 2022 and 2021, UAlbany won 1-0 in the spring of 2021 and 2-1 in 2019.
ABOUT #5 STANFORD
- The Cardinal has an overall record of 9-8 with a 4-4 league record.
- In conference, Stanford compiled victories over UC Davis (9/25), UAlbany (10/7), Bryant (10/9), and New Hampshire (10/30) with losses to UMass Lowell (9/16), Vermont (9/18), California (10/14), and Maine (10/28).
- Haley Mossmer leads the team with eight goals and 17 points.
- Fenella Scutt owns a team-high six assists.
- Daisy Ford leads in goal with 11 starts and 15 appearances. In 628:48, she had tallied a 1.62 goals against average and a .685 save percentage.
SERIES AGAINST THE CARDINAL
- Stanford leads the all-time series, 7-4.
- The Great Danes and the Cardinal went against each other twice in the 2021 season. After a 2-1 victory in the regular season, UAlbany defeated Stanford, 1-0, in the America East Quarterfinal.
- Floor de Ruiter scored the first and only goal of the quarterfinal during a penalty corner late into the second quarter.
- In their first matchup of 2021, Alison Smisdom scored the first goal while Floor de Ruiter tallied the eventual game-winning goal.
- Earlier this season, the Great Danes fell in a 1-0 loss to Stanford.
ABOUT #6 NEW HAMPSHIRE
- The Wildcats own a 9-9 record with a 3-5 conference record.
- In the America East, New Hampshire has defeated Bryant (9/30), California (10/9), and UC Davis (10/28) with losses to Maine (9/23), UMass Lowell (9/25), Vermont (10/14), UAlbany (10/21), and Stanford (10/30).
- Tasmin Cookman leads the team with 16 goals, 10 assists, and 42 points.
- Nicole Poulakis follows with 12 goals and seven assists for 31 points.
- Jemma Woods has started 17 games, spending 1050:25 in goal. She has notched a 2.46 goals against average and a .738 save percentage.
SERIES AGAINST THE WILDCATS
- UAlbany leads the all-time series, 18-13.
- In the 2021 matchup, the Great Danes beat the Wildcats, 2-1. Floor de Ruiter scored the opening goal and Alison Smisdom scored in the fourth quarter, in what proved to be the game-winning goal.
- Earlier this season, UAlbany took home the 4-2 win.
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST
- Maine earned the first seed in the America East Championship with an undefeated 8-0 record in conference play. The Black Bears currently rank 23rd in the latest NFHCA poll.
- Winning the tiebreaker over UMass Lowell, UAlbany grabbed the second seed in the tournament. The Great Danes own the 17th ranking in the latest NFHCA poll.
- UMass Lowell (5-2) will go against sixth-seed New Hampshire (3-5) in the second semifinal.
- The first semifinal will feature fourth-seeded Vermont (5-3) and fifth-seeded Stanford (4-4).
- California (3-5), UC Davis (1-7), and Bryant (0-8) were eliminated from the tournament.
AMERICA EAST CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
- Thursday - Quarterfinals
- #5 Stanford v #4 Vermont, 12 pm
- #6 New Hampshire v #3 UMass Lowell, 3 pm
- Friday - Semifinals
- #4/5 seed v #1 Maine, 12 pm
- #3/6 seed v #2 UAlbany, 3 pm
- Sunday
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
