Game Notes: Field Hockey Goes To Vermont (Oct. 23), Plays Host to Albany (Oct. 25)

Game 15: Friday, Oct. 23 (2 p.m.) – UNH (6-8, 2-2 AE) at Vermont (3-12, 1-4) – Moulton Winder Field – Burlington, Vt. – Video

Game 16: Sunday, Oct. 25 (1 p.m.) – No. 10 Albany (7-3, 2-1 Ivy League) at UNH (5-7, 2-1 AE) – Memorial Field – Durham, N.H. – Stats – Video

THE GAMES: The UNH field hockey team begins the second leg of America East conference play this weekend when the Wildcats travel to play the University of Vermont (Oct. 23; 2 p.m.) and play host to 10^th-ranked University at Albany (Oct. 25; 1 p.m.).

THE MATCHUPS: UNH has a 29-5 lifetime record against Vermont and that includes a 13-4 mark on the road. The Wildcats have won eight consecutive Battle of the 'Cats matchups spanning the 2008-15 seasons by an aggregate score of 28-7. Earlier this month (Oct. 9), UNH were 3-1 victors when Lindsey Nerbonne scored goals 84 seconds apart in the last five minutes of regulation (at 66:00 and 67:24). The Wildcats dominated play with a 30-2 shot advantage (21-0 in the second half) and 13-0 edge in penalty corners. Despite the statistical disparity and a Meg Flatley goal 45 seconds into the game that gave UNH an early 1-0 lead, the score was tied a majority of the game because Landon Warren leveled the score, 1-1, at 27:11. UNH goalkeeper Melissa Rize was not credited with a save and UVM counterpart Lena Benwood stopped 17 shots, including 14 in the second half.
UVM's most recent victory against New Hampshire was Oct. 13, 2007 (3-0 in Burlington, Vt.). Since then, UNH has won three straight matchups at Moulton Winder Field – 3-1 in 2009, 2-1 in 2011 and 7-0 in 2013 as part of the active eight-game win streak.
UNH has a 10-12 lifetime record against Albany that includes 5-6 in home games. The Great Danes have won each of the last three meetings, including 4-1 earlier this month (Oct. 4) at Albany. UA won last year's regular-season battle, 4-2, at UNH's Memorial Field and then won the America East Championship tournament with a 5-0 victory vs. the Wildcats in the title game.
These teams have faced off in the America East postseason each of the last seven years with five matchups in the title game and two in the semifinals. UNH won the 2013 title, 3-2, on its home field and won 3-0 at Albany during the regular season.
In this year's meeting, the Great Danes struck early (at 1:23) and scored three times in the opening 30 minutes, then extended the lead to 4-0 in the 57^th minute. Meg Carroll converted a Courtney Sweeny entry pass into a goal with 4:48 remaining. Play was more even in the second half; the shots were tied 5-5 and UNH had a 1-0 edge in penalty corners. Rize finished with four saves, while Albany's Maxi Primus stopped two shots.

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE: UNH enters the weekend with a 6-8 overall record that includes 2-2 in America East (2-0 home, 0-2 road) as well as 1-7 on the road and 4-1 at home; furthermore, the Wildcats are 1-6 against nationally-ranked teams (0-1 at home vs. nationally-ranked teams).
New Hampshire is averaging 2.00 goals per game on 13.5 shots per game with a .148 shooting percentage. In comparison, the opposition is at 2.86 goals and 12.1 shots per game for a .235 shooting percentage.
The Wildcats have a 2-3 record the month of October and they are coming off a 3-1 victory last Sunday at Harvard University.
New Hampshire has been outscored 22-12 in the first half and the opposition has accrued a 94-75 shot advantage in the first half. Opponents also have an 18-15 goals scoring edge in the second half, when the 'Cats have the advantage in both shots (109-76) and corners (51-36).
The Wildcats were limited to single digits in shots for the third time this season with a total of seven at Harvard, but the 'Cats prevailed 3-1. UNH's defense held the Crimson to three penalty corners, which tied for the second-lowest total by an opponent in 2015.
UNH recorded a season-high 30 shots in the Battle of the 'Cats vs. Vermont (Oct. 9) and that included 21 in the second half. It marked the highest shot total for the Wildcats since October 2013 (38 vs. UVM).
The Wildcats limited Vermont to two shots – none in the second half – to mark the lowest total by an opponent since last October, when Harvard University also tallied two shots.
UNH lost 4-2 to nationally-ranked Boston College despite recording the edge in both shots (14-12) and penalty corners (6-5). The Eagles scored three of their four goals on corners.
Nine Wildcats have started all 14 games and another has been in the starting lineup 13 of 14 games.

'CAT NIPS: Junior midfielder Lindsey Nerbonne recorded her 50^th career point when she scored her team-leading eighth goal of the season at Maine last Friday; her tally gave the Wildcats an early 1-0 lead. Nerbonne has 22 goals and six assists for 50 points in 54 career games.
Senior forward Meg Flatley potted her sixth goal of the season and 48^th of her career with a tally at Harvard last Sunday.
Freshman forward Katie Audino scored the game-winning goal at Harvard when she gave the 'Cats a 1-0 lead en route to a 3-1 victory. Audino initialized and finalized the scoring sequence as the insert on the penalty corner and the goal scorer off a rebound at the left post. Audino enters the weekend tied for third on the squad in both goals (three) and points (seven).
Junior back Jackie Hozza, who has been an integral part of the offensive penalty corner unit all season, scored her first goal of the year at Harvard.
Freshman goalkeeper Kelsey Rudert made her collegiate debut at Harvard. She stopped 2 of 3 shots on goal the final 7:48 of the game.
Sophomore goalie Melissa Rize stopped all five shots on goal to hold the Crimson scoreless for 62 minutes, 12 seconds. Rize has a 6-8 record with a 2.80 GAA and .629 save percentage.
No Wildcat has tallied multiple assists in a game this season.

DEVELOPING THE PLAYOFF PICTURE: With two weeks remaining in the regular season, there is still a lot to be determined in both the East and West divisions of the newly-aligned America East conference. If postseason started this weekend, UNH would be the East #3 seed and play West #2 seed University of the Pacific in a Nov. 5 quarterfinal at the University at Albany (pre-determined championship site).

CORNERING IN: New Hampshire has struggled converting penalty corners into goals this season. The most recent example of that was last Friday at Maine, when the Wildcats generated 10 corners, including a stretch of six consecutive corners in the second half – but did not produce a goal. And in the Oct. 9 game against Vermont, UNH recorded 20 corners but did not score.
But UNH may have turned the corner last Sunday, when the Wildcats converted their first two corners into goals at 15:14 and 19:08 for a 2-0 lead at Harvard.

CONFERENCE CALL: New Hampshire is tied for sixth – of nine teams – in the America East conference in scoring (2.00 goals per game) and is eighth in scoring defense (2.86 goals/game); UNH ranks second in penalty corners per game (6.07) and fifth in shots per game (13.50).
Lindsey Nerbonne is No. 3 in goals/game (0.57), No. 9 in points/game (1.14) and No. 6 in shots/game (3.14) The only other Wildcat ranked among the offensive leaders is Meg Flatley, who is tied for eighth in goals/game (0.43).

ANOTHER CONFERENCE CALL: In four America East conference games, Melissa Rize has a 2-2 record with a 2.50 GAA and .565 save percentage. Lindsey Nerbonne (4g) and Meg Flatley (2g) are the top goal scorers and point producers in league games.

THE SLIMMEST OF MARGINS: Six of UNH's 14 games have been decided by one goal, including consecutive 2-1 victories against Providence College (Sept. 25) and UMass Lowell (Sept. 26), as well as a 4-3 overtime win against then-No. 18 UMass. Including those games, the Wildcats have a 4-2 mark in one-goal games.

FIRST BLOOD: The opponent has scored the game's first goal in 8 of 14 games this season, and seven times the opposition has extended that lead to 2-0 (including the most recent game against Boston College). The 'Cats took a 2-0 lead against both Providence and UMass Lowell, as well as at Harvard.

CENTURY CLUB: Senior forward Meg Flatley became the fifth UNH player to reach the 100-point milestone with her second-half goal in the Aug. 28 season opener at 20^th-ranked Boston University. She entered that game with 98 career points and attained the milestone with her 43^rd goal, which complemented her 14 assists for a total of 100 points.
Flatley, who has a total of six goals and two assists this season for 14 points, is currently No. 5 on the program's all-time points list with 114 (48-16-112); Gaby Haroules (1977-80) is No. 4 at 119.
Flatley scored her 46^th career goal Sept. 26 against UMass Lowell. That tally gave Flatley sole possession of No. 5 on UNH's career leaderboard; she was previously tied with Katie White, who was on the UML sideline as an associate head coach; Hayley Rausch (2008-11) is No. 4 with 51.

COMPETING AGAINST THE BEST: New Hampshire has already played seven games against nationally-ranked teams and two the Wildcats' four remaining games are against currently ranked teams. On opening weekend, the Wildcats played then-No. 20 BU and No. 18 UMass; the 'Cats have also traveled to No. 1 UConn, No. 10 Maryland, No. 6 Albany and No. 19 Maine, and played host to No. 10 Boston College. No. 10 Albany (home) and No. 18 Maine (home) loom ahead.

MADE OF GRANITE: Three student-athletes on the 2015 roster hail from New Hampshire. They are sophomore midfielder Brittany Marshall (Hopkinton), junior midfielder Lindsey Nerbonne (Bow) and freshman Courtney Sweeny (Windham).

SCOUTING VERMONT: The University of Vermont is 3-12 this season with a 1-4 America East record and 2-5 mark at home. The Catamounts have lost three straight – that streak began Oct. 9 at New Hampshire (3-1 loss) – since defeating UMass Lowell, 3-2, at home on Oct. 4, and they are 2-8 the past 10 games. Last weekend, UVM was upended 6-0 at home by Albany.
Lauren Tucker leads the Catamounts with 15 points but she has recorded scored a point since an assist in the aforementioned UMass Lowell game at the beginning of the month. Molly Higgins (6g, 2a) and Anne-Marie Farmer (4g, 2a) have also reached double digits in points.
Vermont has utilized Lena Benwood in goal this season. She has started 14 of 15 games and boasts a .700 save percentage with a 3.32 GAA and two shutouts.
UVM enters the weekend ranked last in America East in offense (1.47 goals/game), defense (3.40 goals/game), shots (7.67/game) and penalty corners (3.87/game).

SCOUTING ALBANY: The 10^th-ranked University at Albany enters the weekend with a 13-2 overall record that includes 4-1 in America East and 9-1 on the road. The Great Danes play host to the University of Maine on Friday afternoon before traveling to play UNH on Sunday.
Albany extended its win streak to four games with Tuesday's 2-1 home win against Cornell; last weekend, the Great Danes defeated UMass Lowell (2-1 on Oct. 16) and Vermont (6-0 on Oct. 18).
The Great Danes previously lost to Maine this season, 6-2 on Oct. 9, immediately after recording a 4-1 win vs. UNH on Oct. 4.
Junior Paula Heuser is two goals away from breaking Albany's school career goal record and seven points away from leading the program in career points. She enters the weekend with 16 goals and seven assists for 39 points; her other stats include a team-high 73 shots and a .219 shooting percentage.
Anna Bottino (8g, 7a), Liza Morgan (6g, 1a) and Fiori Van Rijswijk (1g, 10a) are the other top point producers.
Maxi Primus has played all 1050 in goal this season and she has a 1.63 GAA, .732 save percentage and four shutouts.
Albany enters the weekend ranked No. 2 in America East in offense (2.71 goals/game) and No. 3 in defense (1.29 goals/game), as well as No. 1 in both shots (15.64) and penalty corners (7.57).

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