ALBANY, N.Y. - The #20 UAlbany field hockey team will close the home season with the upcoming senior weekend.
Hosting their Spread Respect game against New Hampshire on Friday, the Great Danes will honor their seniors -
Charlotte Triggs and
Jannelle Volk - in a pregame ceremony on Sunday.
GAME INFORMATION
New Hampshire at #20 UAlbany
DATE: Friday, October 20
TIME: 2:00 PM
SITE: Alumni Turf - Albany, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 9-5, 5-1 America East; New Hampshire 11-4, 6-0 America East
SERIES RECORD: 19-13, UAlbany leads
STREAM:
AE.TV
STATS:
UAlbanySports.com
Lehigh at #20 UAlbany
DATE: Sunday, October 22
TIME: 12:00 PM
SITE: Alumni Turf - Albany, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 9-5, 5-1 America East; Lehigh 9-5, 2-2 Patriot League
SERIES RECORD: 3-0, UAlbany leads
STREAM:
AE.TV
STATS:
UAlbanySports.com
*records as of 10.16
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW
- On Friday, the Great Danes traveled to UMass Lowell for a 3-2 loss.
- Junior Isabella Del Vecchio and redshirt-junior Jannelle Volk both scored in the match.
- Fellow juniors Floor de Ruiter and Lauren Willis tallied the only assists.
- UAlbany returned home to host #3 UNC before falling 4-3 in a back-and-forth game.
- Freshman Mara Küskes and junior Blanca Orsola scored back-to-back goals to take the lead heading into halftime.
- After consecutive UNC goals, junior Alison Smisdom, assisted by Küskes and Orsola, scored on a penalty corner to tie the score.
- The Tar Heels scored the game-winning goal with two minutes left in the fourth quarter.
GREAT DANE REWIND
- In the most recent NFHCA Poll, UAlbany is ranked 20th in the nation.
- Starting the year with a 3-2 loss in double overtime to UMass, the Great Danes answered with a shutout win over Stonehill (Aug. 27).
- UAlbany fell to the current number-six team in the nation, Iowa (Sept. 3).
- The Great Danes won back-to-back games against Hofstra (Sept. 8) and Cornell (Sept. 10).
- UAlbany split the weekend defeating Towson (Sept. 16) before falling to Drexel in shootouts (Sept. 17).
- The Great Danes won their first five conference games with victories over California (Sept. 22), Bryant (Sept. 24), Maine (Sept. 29), UC Davis (Oct. 6), and Stanford (Oct. 8).
- Most recently, UAlbany fell to ranked opponents #20 UMass Lowell and #3 UNC in one-goal contests.
- Alison Smisdom leads the team with 36 points and 16 goals.
- Mara Küskes trails Smisdom with 12 points and a team-high eight assists.
- With a wide range of Great Danes contributing to the score over half of the field players (11 total) have notched at least one goal or assist.
- Smisdom has totaled three defensive saves on the season.
- In goal, junior Lara Behn leads with a 1.52 goals-against average and a .667 save percentage in 750 minutes.
FIRST POINTS
- Lauren Willis tallied her first point of the season against UMass Lowell on Friday. Her assist was the first of her collegiate career.
ON THE NATIONAL STAGE
(As of October 16)
- The Great Danes have four student-athletes currently ranked in the national (NCAA Division I) stats:
- Alison Smisdom
- 5th - 1.14 goals per game
- T5th - 2.57 points per game
- T13th - 3 defensive saves
- Mara Küskes
- T14th - 0.57 assists per game
- Blanca Orsola
- T25th - 0.50 assists per game
- Lara Behn
- T12th - .778 goalie win-loss percentage
- 30th - 1.519 goals against average
IN THE AMERICA EAST
(As of October 16)
- The Great Danes have leaders in each of the seven offensive and four goalie stat categories:
- Shots/Game
- Shots on Goal/Game
- Goals/Game
- Assists/Game
- Points/Game
- Game-Winning Goals/Game
- Defensive Saves
- Goals Against Average
- Save Percentage
- Shutouts/Game
- Saves Per Game
WORK AS A TEAM, WIN AS A TEAM
(As of October 16)
- In the nation, UAlbany ranks:
- 12th - 7.50 penalty corners per game
- T12th - 5 defensive saves
- T15th - 2.86 goals per game
- 17th - 7.86 points per game
- 18th - 2.69 scoring average
- T20th - 2.14 assists per game
- T21st - .643 winning percentage
- 24th - 1.01 scoring margin
- T27th - 0.21 shutouts per game
- The Great Danes' rank in the conference:
- 2nd - 1.79 goals allowed per game
- 2nd - 1.679 goals against average
- 3rd - 10.00 shots on goal per game
- T3rd - 1.07 scoring margin
ABOUT NEW HAMPSHIRE
- New Hampshire holds an 11-4 record on the season and is 6-0 in conference play.
- The Wildcats began the year with victories at home against Quinnipiac (Aug. 25) and Michigan State (Aug. 27).
- Suffering their first loss at Ohio State (Sept. 1) before defeating Ball State (Sept. 3), New Hampshire split the second weekend of the season.
- After falling to Providence College (Sept. 8), the Wildcats entered conference play with victories over Stanford (Sept. 15), UC Davis (Sept. 17), Vermont (Sept. 22), and Bryant (Sept. 29).
- Following a non-conference loss to #11 Boston College (Sept. 24), New Hampshire defeated Dartmouth (Oct. 1).
- After falling to Boston U. (Oct. 8), the Wildcats continued their conference play with victories over #17 UMass Lowell (Oct. 8) and Maine (Oct. 13).
- Most recently, New Hampshire dominated Merrimack (Oct. 15) in a 10-goal shutout.
- Tasmin Cookman leads the team with 18 goals and 41 points.
- Nicole Poulakis holds the team-high in assists with 11.
- Boasting a .709 save percentage with 1.84 goals against average in 815 minutes played, Jemma Woods has been New Hampshire's primary goalkeeper.
SERIES AGAINST THE WILDCATS
- UAlbany leads the all-time series, 19-13.
- In the most recent contest, UAlbany won, 2-1, in the 2022 America East Tournament semifinal round.
- In the matchup, returning student-athlete Sophia Schoonmaker tallied the first goal with Blanca Orsola recording two assists.
- During the regular season, the Great Danes defeated New Hampshire on the road in October.
- Of the returning student-athletes, Alison Smisdom tallied three points with one goal and one assist while Orsola added an assist.
ABOUT LEHIGH
- The Mountain Hawks own a 9-5 record and are 2-2 in the Patriot League.
- Lehigh split their first weekend with a loss to Ohio State (Aug. 25) and a victory against Ball State (Aug. 27).
- Winning their next four games, Lehigh defeated Lock Haven (Sept. 1), Hofstra (Sept. 3), Sacred Heart (Sept. 10), and Saint Francis (Sept 15).
- The Mountain Hawks lost to Temple (Sept. 17) before three consecutive victories over Boston U. (Sept. 22), Wagner (Sept. 24) and Colgate (Sept. 30).
- After falling to Cornell (Oct. 1), Lehigh lost back-to-back conference games to Holy Cross (Oct. 7) and American (Oct. 13).
- Most recently, the Mountain Hawks defeated Rider (Oct. 15) at home.
- Julia Gatelein (four goals and six assists) and Lotte Smorenburg (five goals and four assists) lead Lehigh with 14 points.
- Zoe Day has tallied five defensive saves on the year.
- Jenny Canoni has been the Mountain Hawks starting goalkeeper. Recording a 0.671 save percentage and 1.91 goals against average, she has seen 847 minutes on the field.
SERIES AGAINST THE MOUNTAIN HAWKS
- The Great Danes are 3-0 against Lehigh.
- The last time these teams met, UAlbany won, 4-1, in 2013.
- In the first meeting in 2003, the Great Danes won at Alumni Turf.
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST
- Remaining undefeated in conference play, New Hampshire sits alone at the top of the table.
- UAlbany (.833) and UMass Lowell (.800) trail with only one loss. The Great Danes hold the edge with five wins to the River Hawks' four.
- Maine, Vermont, and California are tied with a .500 conference win percentage (3-3).
- Stanford and UC Davis share a 1-5 conference record.
- The Bulldogs of Bryant round out the America East and are still looking for their first league victory.
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK
- Friday
- New Hampshire at UAlbany, 2 pm
- UMass Lowell at Bryant, 3 pm
- Maine at Vermont, 3 pm
- Saturday
- UC Davis at California, 4 pm
- Sunday
- Colgate at Vermont, 11 am
- Lehigh at UAlbany, 12 pm
- Northeastern at Maine, 1 pm
- Hofstra at Bryant, 1 pm
UP NEXT: UAlbany will travel to Vermont on Friday to close out the regular season.
For more information on the University at Albany field hockey team, follow the squad's official social media accounts shown below.
Twitter - @ualbanyfh
Instagram & Threads - @ualbanyfh
Facebook – facebook.com/UAlbanyFH
