Game Notes: Field Hockey Travels South to Play William & Mary, Maryland

Game 6: Friday, Sept. 18 (6 p.m.) – UNH (2-3, 0-0 AE) at College of William & Mary (3-3, 0-0 CAA) – Busch Field – Williamsburg, Va. – Live Stats

Game 7: Sunday, Sept. 20 (12 p.m.) – UNH (2-3, 0-0 AE) at No. 10 Maryland (3-3, 0-0 Big Ten) – Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex – College Park, Md. – Live Stats – Video

THE GAMES: The UNH field hockey team travels south this weekend to play The College of William & Mary (Sept. 18; 6 p.m.) and 10^th-ranked University of Maryland (Sept. 20, 12 p.m.). Both opponents enter the weekend with a 3-3 overall record.

THE MATCHUPS: UNH has a 1-2 lifetime record against The College of William & Mary, but these teams have not faced off since 2001, when the Tribe recorded a 5-1 home victory. One year earlier, W&M prevailed 4-1. The first meeting was in the 1980 AIAW national championship at Southern Illinois, and the 'Cats captured the title with a 1-0 victory.
New Hampshire has an 0-5 overall record, including two road games, against Maryland. In the most recent meeting, the Terrapins prevailed 8-4 in a 2013 neutral-site game at Temple University. UNH's most recent trip to Maryland (September 2010) resulted in a 7-0 loss. These programs first met in the first round of the NCAA tourney in 2000. They met again at neutral sites in the 2002 and 2003 seasons.

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE: UNH enters the weekend with a 2-3 overall record that includes 0-3 on the road and 1-2 vs. nationally-ranked teams. The Wildcats are coming off a 1-1 weekend in which they fell 5-0 at No. 1-ranked UConn and defeated Northeastern University (1-0). UNH is 2-0 when recording the shot advantage. New Hampshire has been a strong second-half team with a 40-25 shot advantage and 20-11 edge in penalty corners (but the opposition does hold a 7-6 scoring advantage). Nine 'Cats have started all five games and two others have been in the starting lineup 4 of 5 games.

'CAT NIPS: Sophomore goalkeeper Melissa Rize recorded her first career shutout – and second career win – with a two-save effort in UNH's 1-0 home win against Northeastern on Sept. 13. Freshman forward Katie Audino scored her second goal of the season when she broke the scoreless tie vs. NU in the 61^st minute; she has a goal two of the last three games; UNH has a total of three goals the past three games. Audino is tied with sophomore back Ashley Mendonca for second on the squad in both goals (two) and points (four). Senior forward Meg Flatley, who also has four points, tallied her second assist of the season by setting up Audino's goal against the Huskies. Flatley is tied with Jackie Hozza atop the team leaderboard in assists. Junior midfielder Lindsey Nerbonne is the team leader in goals (three), points (six) and shots (16).

WHAT JUST HAPPENED: New Hampshire is coming off a 1-0 victory against Northeastern University in the Sept. 13 home opener at Memorial Field. In the second half, the Wildcats recorded a 10-1 shot advantage with a 4-1 edge in corners and Katie Audino broke the scoreless tie in the 61^st minute. It isn't reflected in the box score, but Chandler Giese and Jackie Hozza spearheaded UNH's strong team defensive effort with a number of tackles that stifled NU's offense; the Huskies finished the game with just three shots and three corners.

FIRST BLOOD: The opponent took a 1-0 lead each of the first four games of the season – three opponents also scored the next goal to build a two-goal lead – before UNH struck first in the 1-0 win against Northeastern University last Sunday (Sept. 13).

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 also has two assists this season, is currently No. 5 on the program's all-time points list with 102 (43-16-102); Gaby Haroules (1977-80) is No. 4 at 119.
Flatley is No. 6 on the career goals leaderboard. Next on the list is No. 5 Katie White (2002-05) with 45; Hayley Rausch (2008-11) is No. 4 with 51.

UNH PICKED SECOND IN AMERICA EAST PRESEASON POLL: New Hampshire was selected second in the East Division of the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll that was released last week. UNH received one first-place vote and a total of 12 points to rank behind defending champion University at Albany (four first-place votes; 16 points). The Wildcats were followed in the East Division by University of Maine (11), University of Vermont (6) and UMass Lowell (5).
Stanford University, ranked No. 6 in the NFHCA Preseason Poll, was a unanimous selection atop the West Division. Cal, UC Davis and Pacific tied for second place.

COMPETING AGAINST THE BEST: New Hampshire have already played three games against nationally-ranked teams and have four games remaining against currently ranked teams. On opening weekend, the Wildcats played then-No. 20 BU and No. 18 UMass; last week, the 'Cats traveled to No. 1 UConn. UNH travels to play No. 10 Maryland (Sept. 20), plays No. 5 Albany both home and away, as well as No. 11 Boston College at home.

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 WILLIAM & MARY: The Tribe head into Friday's game vs. UNH with a 3-3 overall record that includes 2-0 at home. In its previous contest (Sept. 13), William & Mary fell to No. 4-ranked Duke, 6-2. Senior forward Pippin Saunders scored a goal and led the team in shots with three. Senior goalkeeper Meredith Savage played all 70:00 minutes and was credited with saves. Two days earlier, the Tribe was upended 5-2 at 13^th-ranked Old Dominion.
Prior to last weekend, W&M had a three-game win streak consisting of victories against St. Francis (4-1), Ohio (5-3) and Central Michigan (6-1).
As a team, William & Mary averages 13.5 shots per game and 3.17 goals per game. The Tribe is led by third year head coach Tess Ellis, who is two-time CAA coach of the year.
Saunders leads the way for the Tribe in goals (six) and points (15); she also has a .375 shot percentage. Sophomore midfielder Erin Menges is first on the team in assists with five and second in points (11). Cammie Lloyd ranks second in goals (four) and third in points (eight).
Savage has played in every minute of every game this season. She has a goals against average of 3.17 with a .596 save percentage.

SCOUTING MARYLAND: The 10^th-ranked Terrapins take a record of 3-3, including a 2-1 at home, into the weekend; Maryland battles 12^th-ranked Northwestern on Friday before playing host to UNH on Sunday. In their most recent matchup (Sept. 13), the Terrapins defeated American University, 6-1, to end a three-game losing streak; senior defender Sarah Sprink scored three goals and Maryland outshot American, 27-7. Two days earlier, UMD was defeated by No. 7 Albany, 2-1. Prior to that, the Terps fell to No. 5 Duke (2-1, OT) and No. 13 Boston College (3-2, OT).
Freshmen forward Linnea Gonzales leads the team in goals (five) and points (11). Senior midfielder Anna Dessoye and junior forward Emma Risinger are tied for both the lead in assists (five) and second in points (nine).
Senior goalkeeper Jill Genovese leads the way in goal for the Terrapins. She has a save percentage of .571 and 2.46 GAA in six games (five starts).
Missy Meharg is in her 28^th season as head coach for Maryland. She has a total of seven NCAA championships on her resume.

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