Game Notes: America East Quarterfinal Rematch vs. Pacific (Nov. 4)

2016 America East Field Hockey Championship
at University of the Pacific; Stockton, Calif.
All Times Eastern
Quarterfinals - Thursday, Nov. 3
Game 1 – #W1 Stanford 3, #E4 UMass Lowell 2
Game 2 – #E1 Albany 1, #W4 UC Davis 0

Quarterfinals – Friday, Nov. 4
Game 3 – #E2 Maine vs. #W3 California, 3 p.m.
Game 4 – #W2 Pacific vs. #E3 New Hampshire, 5:30 p.m. VIDEO | STATS

Semifinals – Saturday, Nov. 5
Game 5 – Game #1 Winner vs. Game #3 Winner, 3 p.m.
Game 6 – Game #2 Winner vs. Game #4 Winner, 5:30 p.m.

Final – Sunday, Nov. 6
Game 7 – Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 4 p.m.

* Links to video and live stats will be available at Championship Central

Wildcat Quintet Honored by America East

A total of five UNH Wildcats were honored at the America East banquet that was held Wednesday night.
Senior forward Lindsey Nerbonne (Bow, N.H.), junior midfielder Gianna Bensaia (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) and junior back Ashley Mendonca (Brampton, Ontario) were named to the America East East Division All-Conference Team.
Freshman midfielder Kayla Sliz (Ajax, Ontario) was voted to the All-Rookie Team.
Junior midfielder Brittany Marshall (Hopkinton, N.H.) was one of 13 student-athletes – from all nine schools – selected to the All-Academic Team.

UNH (7-11, 4-4 America East) vs. Pacific (14-4, 5-1 America East)

New Hampshire has a 5-2 lifetime record against University of the Pacific, but the Tigers prevailed 2-1 in last year's America East quarterfinal matchup at the University at Albany.
Friday's quarterfinal will be Pacific's first home game in the series.
Not that long ago, these teams faced off back-to-back years with UNH winning 7-1 at home (2012) and 3-1 in a neutral-site game at Stanford (2013).
The Wildcats won the inaugural meeting, 3-0, at home in 1990.
The 'Cats also recorded victories in 1994 (5-1 at Maine) and 2007 (1-0 at home).
Pacific's other win was by a score of 1-0 at Cal in '06.

Deja Vu

UNH is the East No. 3 seed and Pacific is the West No. 2 seed – both teams had those exact seeds in last year's America East quarterfinal at Albany.

One Year Ago

UNH recorded a 27-7 shot advantage and 13-5 edge in penalty corners but was ousted in the 2015 America East quarterfinals with a 2-1 loss to Pacific.
New Hampshire took a 1-0 lead at 23:07 but the Tigers converted a penalty corner into a goal with 10 seconds left in the first half to tie the score.
In the opening 35 minutes, UNH generated sizable advantages in both shots (21-4) and corners (9-2).
Pacific scored on another corner with 5:59 remaining in regulation to take a 2-1 lead.
UNH pulled its goalie in favor of an extra field player for the final 2:30, but was unable to level the score.

State of New Hampshire

UNH, led by 26^th-year head coach Robin Balducci, has a 7-11 overall record that includes 4-4 in America East (East Division) and 2-7 on the road.
Prior to this week's trip to the west coast for the America East Championship, the furthest west UNH had traveled this season was Bloomington, Ind. for a Sept. 11 game at Indiana University (5-3 loss).
The Wildcats were 6-2 victors in the Oct. 30 regular-season finale, which was also Senior Day, against intrastate rival Dartmouth College.
UNH went 4-1 down the stretch, and that began with a 2-1 win at 17^th-ranked Albany on Oct. 16 – that was the Great Danes' only home loss in nine games.
UNH is averaging 2.00 goals, 17.3 shots and 7.5 corners per game while surrendering 2.67 goals, 12.9 shots and 4.4 corners per game.
New Hampshire scored a season-high six goals vs. Dartmouth and matched a season-high of 28 shots. The Big Green's five shots matched the lowest by an opponent in '16.
The five goals scored by Maine last Friday matched the total UNH allowed the previous four games combined.

National Numbers

New Hampshire is among the nation's best – at No. 12 – in penalty corners per game (7.50).
Junior midfielder Gianna Bensaia is No. 6 in the nation in assists per game (0.72 – 13 assists/18 games). And she is close to being in the top 3 – No. 3 is Julie Laszlo of Monmouth at 0.76, followed by Charlotte Veitner (UConn, 0.74) and Aurelia Meijer (Penn State, 0.73).

Comparison Shopping

Here is a side-by-side comparison of UNH and Pacific (conference rank).

Offense Defense Shots/Game Corners/Game Shutouts
UNH 2.00 (5) 2.67 (5) 17.3 (3) 7.5 (2) 1 (t-6)
Pacific 4.66 (1) 1.72 (3) 21.2 (1) 7.1 (3) 4 (t-3)

How We Got Here

New Hampshire secured a berth in the America East Championship tournament with a 3-1 win vs. Vermont on Oct. 21.
In last Friday's America East regular-season finale at Maine, UNH had a chance to tie the Black Bears for second place in the East Division standings, but the Black Bears were victorious, 5-1.
UNH earned sole possession of third place in the East following UMass Lowell's loss at Albany in Sunday's regular-season finale.

Three Games in Three Days

UNH will have to win three games in three days to win the 2016 America East tournament title and advance to the NCAA tourney.
New Hampshire did not play consecutive days in the regular season.
The winner of Friday's quarterfinal advances to Saturday's semifinal (5:30 p.m. Eastern) against the winner of Game 2 – Albany vs. UC Davis.
That semifinal winner plays in Sunday's championship game (4 p.m. Eastern).

UNH in the America East Championship

New Hampshire is making its 22^nd appearance overall – 10^th straight – in the America East tournament this year.
The Wildcats have won four titles – 1989, 1998, 2011, 2013 – and finished as runner-up seven times.
UNH has a 13-18 overall record in conference postseason play.
The 'Cats advanced to the title game five consecutive years (2010-14) and six times in seven years before last year's exit in the quarterfinals.
From 2008-14, UNH played Albany every postseason and the Great Danes were the only team to defeat the Wildcats in the conference tourney those seven years (2-5 vs. Albany in that span).

Conference Call

Gianna Bensaia is atop the America East leaderboard in assists (13) and assists per game (0.72).
Lindsey Nerbonne ranks: No. 4 in shots (78) and shots per game (4.33); tied at No. 5 in goals (12) and goals per game (0.67); 10^th in points per game (1.39) and 11^th in points (25).
Ashley Mendonca ranks: tied at No. 5 in goals (12) and goals/game (0.67); No. 6 in shots (57) and No. 5 in shots/game (3.17); tied at No. 9 in points (26) and No. 9 in points/game (1.44); tied for sixth in defensive saves (two).
Kelsey Rudert is fourth in saves (78) and fifth in saves/game (4.33).

Saluting the Seniors

The UNH field hockey program paid tribute to its two seniors – Jackie Hozza (Sinking Spring, Pa.) and Lindsey Nerbonne – prior to its last home game of the season Oct. 30 vs. Dartmouth College.
Hozza has been a three-year starter in the backfield and instrumental part of the defensive penalty corner unit. She was also an integral cog of the offensive penalty corner unit in '14 and '15.
Nerbonne is one of the top goal scorers in UNH history. She ranked second on the team in goals as a sophomore (her first year as a 'Cat), was atop the leaderboard as a junior and is No. 2 this year. She has a total of 37 career goals, which ranks ninth on the program's all-time list.

Giving Assistance

Gianna Bensaia has a team-high 13 assists and is tied at No. 5 on the program's list of single-season superlatives with Hayley Rausch (2010) and Cyndi Caldwell (1986).
The duo of Becky Craigue (1998) and Patty Heap (1984) are tied at No. 3 with 15. The top two spots are held by Sandi Costigan (17 in 1986) and Becky Craigue (16 in 1997).

Top 10 List

Lindsey Nerbonne enters the America East tourney at No. 9 on the program's career goals leaderboard for goals with 37. Ahead of her is No. 8 Rebecca Provost (1991-94; 40 goals) and No. 7 Meg Shea (2006-09; 42).
Nerbonne enters postseason play with 81 career points, which is tied for No. 11 on UNH's leaderboard with Becky Craigue (1995-98). Immediately on the horizon are No. 10 Kathy Cortez (1991-94; 83 points) and No. 9 Marcie Boyer (1999-2002; 86).

'Cat Nips

Sophomore forward Katie Audino (Severn, Md.) matched her career high of two assists in the regular-season finale last Sunday (Oct. 30) vs. Dartmouth College. Audino tallied an assist five of the last seven regular-season games (0-7-7 in that span), and she ranks second on the team in assists (nine).
Lindsey Nerbonne matched her career highs in both goals (three) and points (six) against Dartmouth.
Prior to the 2016 regular-season finale, the last Wildcat to score three goals in a game was, in fact, Nerbonne. She accomplished the feat Aug. 29, 2015 against UMass.
Ashley Mendonca recorded a point five of the last six regular-season games with 5-2-12 in that span.
Gianna Bensaia tallied a point five of the last seven regular-season games and that included a five-game point streak (1-6-8 in that span).
Sophomore midfielder Rachel Bossi (Chelmsford, Mass.) is the only 'Cat who carries a point streak into the tournament. She had an assist in both games last weekend for a two-game point streak.
Freshman back Nicky Bajus (Lions Bay, British Columbia) emerged as a striker on the offensive penalty corner the last two weeks of the regular sedason. All seven of Bajus' shots were in the last four games, and she scored her first career goal Oct. 28 at Maine.
Only six UNH Wildcats started all eight regular season games. They are: Bossi, Hozza, Mendcona, Nerbonne, Rudert and Schmidt.

Coach Balducci Selected to NFHCA Hall of Fame Class of 2016

The National Field Hockey Coaches Association announced Sept. 19 that Robin Balducci, 26^th-year head coach of the UNH field hockey program, has been selected for enshrinement in the NFHCA Hall of Fame as part of the Class 0f 2016.
The formal induction ceremony will be held Jan. 5, 2017, as part of the NFHCA Annual Convention at Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club.
Balducci is the program's winningest head coach with 261 victories.
She guided UNH to the America East regular-season title and was honored as America East Coach of the Year an unprecedented four consecutive years (2010-11-12-13).
Balducci has been named America East Coach of the Year a conference-record six times, and she was feted as NFHCA Regional Coach of the Year in 1998 and 2011.

The Battery…

Katie Audino has been the primary insert on offensive penalty corners the second half of the season. Aggie Sutherland (Dauphin, Pa.) began the 2016 as the insert and is still occasionally used in that role.
Gianna Bensaia and Rachel Bossi are the primary stick-stops who set the ball for the direct shot, or swing the ball to a teammate on the wing.

… And The Striker

Ashley Mendonca is the primary striker on offensive penalty corners; a high majority of her team-leading 12 goals have been scored on a penalty corner direct shot.
Jessica Schmidt (Warrington, Pa.) and Nicky Bajus are two other 'Cats who line up to take that direct shot. Schmidt is third on the team in goals (three) and has seven points; she is also fourth in shots with 29.

Close Calls

Half of UNH's 18 games were decided by one goal and the 'Cats went 4-5 in those games; that included 2-1 in overtime – all three OT games were at home.

The Leaderboard

Ashley Mendonca has climbed to the top of the UNH leaderboard in both goals (12) and points (26); she also has a team-best two defensive saves and .211 shooting percentage. Mendonca recorded a point in 11 of 18 games with three three-game goal streaks.
Lindsey Nerbonne is tied for the lead in goals (12) and is second in points (25); she has a team-high 78 shots. Nerbonne scored a goal in half of the regular-season games; she opened the year with a four-game goal streak.
Gianna Bensaia is atop the assist leaderboard with 13. She recorded a point in 10 games and had a UNH-best five-game point streak spanning Oct. 9-23. Bensaia tallied four multiple-assist games with two helpers vs. Boston University (Aug. 28), Harvard (Sept. 4), Maine (Oct. 9) and Albany (Oct. 16).

Defending the Cage

Sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Rudert (North Grafton, Mass.) has played 98.4% of the minutes in goal this season and is 7-11 with a 2.68 GAA and .619 save percentage.
Rudert has been honored as America East Defender of the Week twice this season.
During the three-game win streak (Oct. 16-21-23), Rudert allowed one goal each game to lower her GAA from 2.92 to 2.56.

Half-n-Half

New Hampshire has been outscored by a 2:1 ratio in the first half by a margin of 26-13. In the second half, the scoring is even at 21.
UNH has an even distribution of shots with 154 each half (and three in OT).

D-D-D-Defense

New Hampshire limited the opposition to single digits in shots five times in the regular season, and that includes three of the last four games – Vermont (nine; Oct. 21), UMass Lowell (seven; Oct. 23) and Dartmouth (five; Oct. 30).

First Blood

The Wildcats have scored the first goal seven times and won three of those games; UNH is 4-7 when falling behind 1-0.

Scouting the Tigers

The University of the Pacific (Stockton, Calif.) is rolling into the America East playoffs after a strong finish to the regular season with a five-game win streak and 14 wins in 15 games.
The Tigers enter the postseason with a program-best 14 wins and only 4 losses, and a 5-1 record in America East that tied for first place in the West Division. They went 4-2 at home.
Pacific is led by America East Offensive Player of the Year Marguerite van Wyk, who leads the conference in points (51) and goals (19). The sophomore forward also has team highs in shots (106) and game-winning goals (four), and is also tied for first in assists (13) with Ash Rutherford.
Junior midfielders Savannah Burns ranks second in goals (14) and points (39), and junior forward Alicia Muinos is third in goals (12) and points (27).
Burns, Muinos and van Wyk were joined on the America East West Division All-Conference Team by junior midfielder Axelle Steffen.
Senior goalie Luara Pujade has played 1159 of a possible 1277 minutes this season. She has a 1.81 GAA and .659 save percentage.
Pacific leads the nation in assists per game (4.61) and is No. 2 in goals per gamea (4.72).

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