Field Hockey Battles No. 17 Boston U. for Wildcat Classic Title (Aug. 28)

WELCOME: The Wildcat Classic concludes Sunday, Aug. 28 as the third-place game pits 16th-ranked Northwestern University against UMass. Host team UNH battles 17th-ranked Boston University in the title game. Game times are 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.

FRIDAY RECAP: UNH and Boston University were both 2-1 victors. In the first game, BU scored the first two goals and fended off Northwestern, which recorded the edge in both shots (14-6) and penalty corners (5-2). Allie Renzi scored what proved to be the game-winning goal when she gave the Terriers a 1-0 lead at 13:35 and she set up Amanda Cassera's goal at 50:10. Dominique Masters scored five minutes later, but NU was unable to score the equalizer. BU's Cammy Jensen made nine saves and NU counterpart Lindsay von der Luft stopped two shots.

In Game 2, Lindsey Nerbonne scored the game-tying goal at 63:02 – less than seven minutes after Nicole Miller gave UMass a 1-0 lead – and then scored 93 seconds into overtime to lift UNH to victory. Nerbonne, with the only shot in OT, recorded six of UNH's 17 shots; the Wildcats finished with a 17-10 shot advantage and 7-2 edge in corners. Kelsey Rudert, in her first career start and just second game overall, made six of her seven saves in the second half. UMass' Emily Hazard also stopped seven shots.

UNH vs. Boston U.: New Hampshire has an 18-20-3 lifetime record against Boston U., which prevailed 4-3 in last year's season opener at BU's New Balance Field. That result snapped UNH's four-game win streak in the series. Six of the last seven meetings have been decided by one goal – the only exception was UNH's 4-2 victory in the 2011 America East conference title game; the Wildcats have the 4-3 edge in that span, which dates back to the 2008 season. New Hampshire has a 9-5-1 home record in the series with two straight wins at Memorial Field. In last year's game, UNH erased 2-0 and 3-2 deficits, but BU scored with 78 seconds left in regulation.

WE'RE BACK: Twelve letterwinners comprise two-thirds of the 18-player roster for 26th-year head coach Robin Balducci. Senior Lindsey Nerbonne (Bow, N.H.) led last year's squad in both goals (12) and points (26), and her 85 shots were more than No. 2 and 3 combined (70) on that list. Nerbonne was named to the Northeast Region First Team and America East All-Conference First Team in 2015, as was Gianna Bensaia (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.). Senior Jackie Hozza (Sinking Spring, Pa.) and junior Ashley Mendonca (Brampton, Ontario) anchor UNH's defense while Aggie Sutherland (Dauphin, Pa.), who missed last season because of injury, is back to solidify the midfield and sophomore forward Katie Audino (Severn, Md.) provides scoring punch.

THE TOURNEY FIELD: Northwestern University, ranked No. 16 in the NFHCA Preseason Poll, finished the 2015 season with a 13-8 overall record that included 4-4 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats ended the regular season ranked No. 16 and advanced to the conference semifinal. Seniors Isabel Flens and Dominique Masters, as well as junior Elena Curley, were named to the Big Ten Field Hockey Players to Watch list for 2016.

Boston University, ranked No. 17 in the NFHCA Preseason Poll, went 15-7 a year ago. The Terriers went unbeaten (6-0) in the Patriot League, won the conference tournament and an NCAA play-in game to advance to the NCAAs. BU is once again the preseason favorite in the Patriot League with seniors Hester van der Laan and Ellie Landsman voted Preseason Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively. Classmate Amanda Cassera joined that duo on the Preseason All-Patriot League Team.

UMass completed the 2015 season with a 12-9 overall record that included 7-1 in the Atlantic 10; they won the league tourney and an NCAA play-in game to advance to the NCAAs. The Minutewomen were picked second in this year's Atlantic 10 preseason poll with senior Izzie Delario and juniors Sarah Hawkshaw and Melanie Kreusch named to the A-10 Preseason All-Conference Team.

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