KAPLAN, FOSTER: SERVICE CREDIT UNION SPOTLIGHT AND WEEKLY ROUNDUP

UNH WEEKLY ROUNDUP
March 8, 2010

DURHAM, N.H. – Shaunna Kaplan (Framingham, Mass.) of the women’s lacrosse team and Brian Foster (Pembroke, N.H.) of the men’s ice hockey team are featured in this week's Service Credit Union Student-Athlete Spotlight. This information and more can be found in this week's Wildcat Roundup.

STUDENT-ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

SHAUNNA KAPLAN

BRIAN FOSTER

Shaunna Kaplan, women's lacrosse
     Shaunna, a junior attacker from Framingham, Massachusetts who was also a four-year letterwinner on the women's soccer team, recorded three goals and five assists for eight points to lead the 19th-ranked UNH women's lacrosse team to last week's victories against UMass (11-8) and Colgate (16-11). She also tallied one ground ball, one caused turnover and one draw control.
      Shaunna scored three second-half goals to help UNH overcome a two-goal deficit on the road vs. UMass. Her initial tally leveled the score, 6-6, as part of a five-goal run, and after the Minutewomen pulled within 9-7, Shaunna responded with a goal 15 seconds later and struck again with 1:25 remaining to secure the victory.
      In the game vs. Colgate, the Raiders closed within 8-7 in the second half before Shaunna set up consecutive goals 1:51 apart and another with 5:58 remaining to extend UNH's advantage to 12-8.
     Shaunna's four-assist effort vs. Colgate pushed her career total to 149 points. Only 10 UNH Wildcats have reached the 150-point milestone.

Brian Foster, men’s ice hockey
      Brian, a senior goaltender from Pembroke, New Hampshire, helped backbone the 10th-ranked UNH men's hockey team to the Hockey East regular-season title with a 30-save effort in a 3-3 tie vs. fifth-ranked Boston College at the Whittemore Center on March 5. UNH has won three of the last four league regular-season titles.
      Brian stopped 69 shots overall in the home-and-home series vs. BC and that included a 39-save effort in the 3-2 road loss; he also had an assist on UNH's first goal of that game. He made several key stops Friday night and nearly held the Eagles scoreless for the final 40 minutes.


WEEKLY AWARDS
Jenny Simpson, women's lacrosse: Rookie of the Week (America East)

ACCOLADES
Alvin Abreu, men's basketball: All-Conference Second Team (America East)
Brian Benson, men's basketball: All-Academic Team (America East)
Courtney Birchard, women's ice hockey: First Team All-Star (Hockey East)
Kristina Lavoie, women's ice hockey: Bauer Rookie of the Year, All-Rookie Team,
Honorable Mention All-Star (Hockey East)
Micaela Long, women's ice hockey: First Team All-Star, Humboldt Storage and Moving
Scoring Champion
Ferg Myrick, men's basketball: All-Rookie Team (America East)
Kelly Paton, women's ice hockey: Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Top 10 Candidate
(USA Hockey); co-Player of the Year, First Team All-Star, Three Stars Award
(Hockey East)
Candace Williams, women's basketball: All-Conference Second Team (America East)


LAST WEEK’S RESULTS
Wednesday, March 3
Women's lacrosse: #19 UNH 11, at Massachusetts 8
Thursday, March 4
Women's basketball: UNH 65, Maine 50 (America East first round)
Friday, March 5
Men's hockey: #10 UNH 3, #5 Boston College 3 (tie - overtime)
Women's basketball: at Hartford 68, UNH 35 (America East quarterfinal)
Saturday, March 6
Men's hockey: at #5 Boston College 3, #10 UNH 2
Men's basketball: UNH 68, Maine 57 (America East quarterfinal)
Women's lacrosse: at #19 UNH 16, Colgate 11
Women's ice hockey: Boston University 4, #5 UNH 0 (Hockey East semifinal)
Sunday, March 7
Men's basketball: Vermont 57, UNH 38 (America East semifinal)
Gymnastics: UNH (193.0) 1st place at George Washington (192.375) w/William & Mary (191.750)
Men's indoor track & field at IC4A Championships, 22nd place (at Reggie Lewis Center)
Women's indoor track & field at ECAC Championships, 8th place (at Reggie Lewis Center)

UPCOMING EVENTS
Tuesday, March 9
Women's lacrosse vs. Harvard, 3 pm
Wednesday, March 10
Skiing at NCAA Championships
Thursday, March 11
Skiing at NCAA Championships
Friday, March 12
Men's hockey vs. Vermont, 7 pm (Hockey East quarterfinals)
Skiing at NCAA Championships
Gymnastics vs. North Carolina State, 7 pm (Senior Day)
Saturday, March 13
Men's hockey vs. Vermont, 7 pm (Hockey East quarterfinals)
Women's ice hockey at Minnesota-Duluth (3 pm Eastern) (NCAA quarterfinal)
Skiing at NCAA Championships
Women's lacrosse at Maryland, 12 pm
Sunday, March 14
Men's hockey vs. Vermont, 7 pm (Hockey East quarterfinals; if necessary)

MEN’S BASKETBALL (13-17, 6-10 America East)
• UNH defeated Maine in an America East quarterfinal game to advance to the semifinals for the third time in the last four years.
• Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass.) was named to the America East All-Conference Second Team. He played 1,000 minutes this season, which ranks seventh on the program's single-season leaderboard. He is ranked 14th on the all-time scoring list with 1,144 points.
• Ferg Myrick (Philadelphia, Pa.) was named to the America East All-Rookie Team.
• Brian Benson (Rochester, N.Y.) was named to the America East All-Academic Team.
• Russell Graham (Norristown, Pa.) recorded 121 assists, which ranks seventh on UNH's list of single-season superlatives.
• Dane DiLiegro (Lexington, Mass.) is seventh on UNH's career rebound leaderboard with 633.
• UNH broke the school single-season record for offensive rebounds with 383. The 701 defensive rebounds ranks third on the list of single-season superlatives.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (9-22, 3-13 America East)
• UNH recorded a convincing 65-50 victory against Maine in the first round of the America East Championships, then was ousted by top-seeded and homestanding University of Hartford in the quarterfinals.
• Candace Williams (Norfolk, Mass.) was named to the America East All-Conference Second Team. She finishes her career ranked sixth on the program's career leaderboard in both scoring (1,277 points) and rebounding (701).
• Jill McDonald (Middlebury, Vt.) broke UNH's single-season record for blocks with 58. The previous mark of 53 was held by Denise Higgins (1984).
• The Wildcats shattered the single-season record for blocks in a season with 146. It broke the mark of 117 established just last season.
• Amy Simpson (Waterbury, Conn.) tied UNH's single-season assist record with 155. The benchmark was previously established by Christine Gulas in 1983. Simpson holds the program record for career 3-pointers made (193) and ranks fourth in assists (361) as well as 11th in scoring (1,063 career points).
• The end of the 2010 season marked the end of UNH careers for Williams, Simpson, Chrissy Hall (Northbridge, Mass.) and Racheal Fowler (Glassboro, N.J.).

GYMNASTICS (11-2)
• UNH traveled to Washington,D.C. and returned home with wins against the host school George Washington as well as William & Mary. The Wildcats recorded a score of 193.0 to capture first place.
• Chelsea Steinberg (Ridgewood, N.J.) tied for first place in the all-around competition with a four-event score of 38.800. She captured first place in the balance beam as well as third in vault.
• Helena Diodati (Scarborough, Maine) recorded the highest score on the vault and tied for first on the uneven bars..
• Taryn LaFountain (Utica, N.Y.) earned second-place finishes on both the balance beam and floor exercise.
• The UNH gymnastics program will honor its six seniors at the final home meet of the regular season March 12 (7 p.m.) vs. North Carolina State.

MEN’S ICE HOCKEY (16-11-7, 15-6-6 Hockey East)
• UNH captured its eighth Hockey East regular-season title -- third in the last four years -- by erasing a three-goal third-period deficit in a 3-3 tie vs. Boston College on Senior Day at the Whittemore Center. The Wildcats were atop the league standings for 16 consecutive weeks.
• Bobby Butler (Marlboro, Mass.) recorded 21 goals and 20 assists for 41 points in Hockey East league play. The last player to accomplish that feat (20g, 20a) was UNH's Jason Krog in 2000.
• UNH finished the regular season unbeaten at home vs. Hockey East foes (9-0-4). The last time the 'Cats went unbeaten at home in league play was the 2000 season.
• New Hampshire will be host of a Hockey East quarterfinal series for a league-record 14th consecutive season.

WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY (19-8-5, 13-6-2-0 Hockey East)
• UNH was ousted in the semifinals of the 8th Annual Hockey East Championship tournament with a 4-0 loss to Boston University.
• UNH received one of five at-large invitations to the NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Championship and will play at Minnesota-Duluth in this weekend's quarterfinal matchup. It is the Wildcats' fifth consecutive trip to the NCAAs and the team advanced to the Frozen Four in '06 and '08.
• Kelly Paton (Woodstock, Ontario) was named a Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award /Top 10 Candidate on March 2. The award is presented annually to the most outstanding women's college hockey player.
• Paton was named co-Player of the Year and Kristina Lavoie (Fonthill, Ontario) was tabbed Bauer Rookie of the Year as four Wildcats received a total of nine awards at the Hockey East banquet.

MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
• UNH finished in 22nd place at the IC4A Championships, which were held in Boston on March 6-7.
• Brice Paey (Milton, N.H.) had the top finish by a Wildcat with third place in the shot put at a mark of 57 feet, 9.50 inches.
• Jeff Kaste (Atkinson, N.H.), who finished 18th in the shot put, took fourth place in the weight throw with a distance of 61-5.

WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
• UNH had its best performance ever at the ECAC Championships with an eighth-place finish this past weekend (March 6-7) in Boston. The team had five all-ECAC efforts and broke three school records.
• The 4x800 relay team of Tracy Howell (Grafton, Mass.), Brittany Verville (Bow, N.H.), Megan Donohue (Stratham, N.H.) and Allison Letourneau (Kingston, Nova Scotia) raced to second place and garnered All-ECAC accolades for its time of 8 minutes, 59.88 seconds.
• Camille Quarles (Derry, N.H.) earned All-ECAC honors for placing fifth in the triple jump with a school-record mark of 12.16 meters.
• Ashlee Lathrop (Sherburne, N.Y.) also broke a school recorded and garnered All-ECAC recognition for a fifth-place finish in the weight throw. She recorded an effort of 17.54 meters.
• Erica Jesseman (Scarborough, Maine) toppled a 26-year old school record in the 5,000 meters with a time of 16:49.61. She earned All-ECAC honors for that sixth-place finish.
• Kelly Thomas (Chichester, N.H.) was All-ECAC as she finished seventh in the pentathlon by compiling 3,350 points.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE (4-0, 0-0 America East)
• UNH defeated UMass and Colgate last week to improve to 4-0 for the first time since the 1989 season.
• UNH is 3-0 at home and has a 16-4 record at Memorial Field since the start of the 2008 season.
• Allie Bratton (Windermere, Fla.) recorded a career-high three goals and tallied five draw controls to garner America East Player of the Game honors at UMass.
• Jenny Simpson (New Canaan, Conn.) registered personal bests in goals (three), assists (two) and points (five) vs. Colgate to garner America East Player of the Game.
• Shaunna Kaplan (Framingham, Mass.) has recorded a point in 13 consecutive games dating back to last season. She has 15 points (5g, 10a) in four games this year.

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SKIING
• UNH did not compete last week. A total of nine Wildcats -- three from the state of New Hampshire -- will compete at this week's NCAA Skiing Championships (March 10-13 at the University of Colorado). The Wildcats once again have a full complement of six alpine skiers.
• Alpine skiers Veronique Archambault-Leger (Verdun, Quebec) and Aileen Farrell (Ottawa, Ontario) will be competing at the NCAAs for the fourth time, and both have earned four All-America accolades in women's alpine competition.
• Willie Ford (Plymouth, N.H.) will also be competing at the NCAA Championships for the fourth consecutive year. He raced to All-America status in both the slalom and giant slalom last year.
• Michael Cremeno (Pembroke, N.H.) earned All-America honors in the 2009 giant slalom and will be participating in his second NCAAs. Natasha Kullas (Timmons, Ontario) will also be making a second NCAA appearance; she competed in the '08 Nordic races.
• Marie-Elaine Lepine (Mont-Tremblant, Quebec; women's alpine), Paul Atkinson (Toronto, Ontario; men's alpine), Anya Caldwell Bean (Wolfeboro, N.H.; women's Nordic) and Dylan McGuffin (Northfield, N.H.; men's Nordic) will make their debuts at the NCAAs.

SWIMMING & DIVING (9-2)
• The season concluded with the team's third-place finish at the America East Championships, which were held Feb. 25-28.