ALBANY, N.Y. - The UAlbany field hockey team will begin conference play this weekend as they host California before traveling to face Bryant.

GAME INFORMATION
 
California at UAlbany
DATE: Friday, September 22
TIME: 2:00 PM
SITE: Alumni Turf - Albany, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 4-3, 0-0 America East; California 3-3, 0-0 America East
SERIES RECORD: 2-2, series tied
STREAM: AE.TV
STATS: UAlbanySports.com
 
UAlbany at Bryant
DATE: Sunday, September 24
TIME: 2:00 PM
SITE: Bryant Field Hockey Complex - Smithfield, R.I.
RECORDS: UAlbany 4-3, 0-0 America East; Bryant 4-3, 0-0 America East
SERIES RECORD: 8-0, UAlbany leads
STREAM: AE.TV
STATS: BryantBulldogs.com
 
*records as of 9.21
 
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW

• The Great Danes traveled to Towson for a 4-1 win on Friday (Sept. 16).
• Junior Alison Smisdom led the scoring with two goals and an assist. Sophomore Sophia Schoonmaker and junior Isabella Del Vecchio each added a goal.
• In their second matchup of the weekend, UAlbany visited Drexel for a 4-3 loss in shootouts (Sept. 17). 
• In a back-and-forth contest, junior Floor de Ruiter scored UAlbany's first goal with Smisdom scoring twice. All three goals were unassisted.

 
GREAT DANE REWIND

• 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 one team in the country - Iowa - on Sunday, Sept. 3.
• The Great Danes won back-to-back games against Hofstra (Sept. 8) and Cornell (Sept. 10).
• Most recently, UAlbany split the weekend defeating Towson, 4-1, (Sept. 16) before falling to Drexel, 4-3, in shootouts (Sept. 17).
• Alison Smisdom leads the team with 19 points, eight goals, and three assists.
• Holding a team-high shooting percentage (.375), Sophia Schoonmaker follows Smisdom with three goals and six points. Floor de Ruiter has also tallied six points with two goals and two assists.
• Freshman Mara Küskes and junior Blanca Orsola share the lead with Smisdom with three assists each.
• Seeing a wide range of Great Danes contributing to the score, half of the field players have notched at least one goal or assist. 
• In goal, junior Lara Behn leads with a 1.20 goals against average and a .741 save percentage in 350 minutes. Graduate student Hannah Mangan follows with a 2.06 goals against average and a .556 save percentage in 117 minutes.

 
FIRST POINTS

• Isabella Del Vecchio scored her first goal of the season against Towson on Friday. 

 
ON THE NATIONAL STAGE

• The Great Danes have two student-athletes currently ranked in the national (NCAA Division I) stats:
  • Alison Smisdom
    • T6th - 1.14 goals per game
    • T6th - 2.71 points per game
  • Lara Behn
    • T1st - 1.000 goalie win-loss percentage 
    • 16th - 1.199 goals against average 
    • 30th - .741 save percentage

 
IN THE AMERICA EAST

• The Great Danes have leaders in each of the seven offensive and four goalie stat categories:
  • Shots/Game
    • 1st - 5.57 - Alison Smisdom
    • T16th - 1.86 - Floor de Ruiter
  • Shots on Goal/Game
    • 3rd- 3.14 - Alison Smisdom
    • T18th - 1.00 - Sophia Schoonmaker and Floor de Ruiter
  • Goals/Game
    • 3rd - 1.14 - Alison Smisdom
    • 23rd - .429 - Sophia Schoonmaker 
  • Assists/Game
    • T15th - 0.43 - Blanca Orsola, Mara Küskes, and Floor de Ruiter
  • Points/Game
    • T2nd - 2.71 - Alison Smisdom
    • T23rd - .86 - Sophia Schoonmaker and Floor de Ruiter
  • Game-Winning Goals
    • T6th - 1 - Blanca Orsola, Delphine Le Jeune, Floor de Ruiter, and Alison Smisdom
  • Defensive Saves
    • T4th - 1 - Alison Smisdom, Charlotte Triggs
  • Goals Against Average
    • 2nd - 1.199 - Lara Behn
  • Save Percentage
    • 2nd - .741 - Lara Behn
  • Shutouts/Game
    • 3rd - .143 - Lara Behn
  • Saves Per Game 
    • 7th - 2.86 - Lara Behn

 
WORK AS A TEAM, WIN AS A TEAM

• In the nation, UAlbany ranks:
  • 15th - 7.43 penalty corners per game
  • T15th - 2.71 goals per game
  • T16th - 2 defensive saves
  • T18th - 0.29 shutouts per game
  • T19th - 7.29 points per game
  • 21st - 0.89 scoring margin
  • 26th - 2.42 scoring average
  • T34th - 1.86 assists per game
• The Great Danes' rank in the conference:
  • 2nd - 1.71 goals against average
  • 3rd - .692 save percentage 
  • 3rd - 2.71 - goals per game
  • 4th - 15.0 shots per game
  • 4th - 9.14 shots on goal per game
  • T4th - 7.29 - points per game

 
ABOUT CALIFORNIA

• The Golden Bears began the year with a 3-3 record.
• California started the season being shut out by Miami (Ohio) on August 15 before losing, 4-1, to #3 Maryland (Aug. 27).
• They continued their season being narrowly defeated, 2-1, by #16 Rutgers (Aug. 28).
• The Golden Bears won their first game, 3-2, against #5 Penn State.
• Most recently, California headed on the road for the first time to defeat LIU (Sept. 8) and Stonehill (Sept. 9).
• Daniella Rhodes leads the team with six goals and 12 points.
• Cato Geusgens, Bente Baekers, and Sophie Everett are all tied for the most assists with three.
• Tina Jolly is the Golden Bear's starting goalie. Starting all six games, she boasts a 0.647 save percentage and a 2.11 goals against average.

SERIES AGAINST THE GOLDEN BEARS

• The all-time series is tied, 2-2.
• In the most recent contest, UAlbany won, 5-1, on September 23, 2022. Alison Smisdom notched two goals with Sophia Schoonmaker, Blanca Orsola, and senior Charlotte Triggs added one assist each.
• The two teams first met in 2008 with an overtime match that went to California.

 
ABOUT BRYANT 

• The Bulldogs opened their season with back-to-back double-overtime wins - Lindenwood (Aug. 26) and Saint Louis (Aug. 27).
• Unable to score a goal, Bryant fell in the next two games to Providence (Sept. 1) and Fairfield (Sept. 4) but answered with a win over Merrimack (Sept. 8).
• Most recently, the Bulldogs split the weekend with a loss to Quinnipiac (Sept. 13) and a win over Stonehill (Sept. 15).
• Brittany Gouws leads Bryant in scoring with 11 points and 5 goals.
• Natalie Griffen owns a team-high with three assists.
• Dieneke Hes has had the most time in goal for the Bulldogs. Playing 260 minutes, she has worked for a .719 save percentage. 

SERIES AGAINST THE BULLDOGS

• UAlbany leads the all-time series, 8-0.
• In their first contest as conference opponents, the Great Danes defeated the Bulldogs, 4-0, in 2022. 
• Classmates Floor de Ruiter and Alison Smisdom scored one goal each while Blanca Orsola added two assists and Smisdom notched one.

 
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST

• New Hampshire and Maine lead the conference after winning both of their conference games last weekend.
• Stanford and Maine round out the league with an 0-2 AE record.
• The remainder of the America East field hockey teams will begin conference action this weekend.
• Of those with a 0-0 league record, UMass Lowell holds a 5-2 overall record to lead.
• Bryant and UAlbany are tied with a 4-3 overall record.
• California and Vermont each have three wins on the season but the Golden Bears hold the slight edge with three losses to the Catamounts' four.

 
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK

• Friday
  • California at UAlbany, 2 pm
  • New Hampshire at Vermont, 3 pm
  • UMass Lowell at Maine, 3 pm
  • UC Davis at Stanford, 4 pm
• Sunday
  • California at Vermont, 12 pm
  • New Hampshire at Boston College, 12 pm
  • UAlbany at Bryant, 2 pm
  • Brown at UMass Lowell, 3 pm
• Tuesday 
  • Bryant at Holy Cross, 6 pm

 
UP NEXT: The Great Danes return home for a one-game weekend as they host Maine on Friday, September 29.
 
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