'Cats Battle Stanford In America East Title Game Today (1 pm)

America East Field Hockey Championship
at UMass Lowell • Cushing Field
Quarterfinals - Thursday, Nov. 2
Game 1 – #E1 Albany 5, #W4 UC Davis 0
Game 2 – #W1 Stanford 5, #E4 UMass Lowell 1

Quarterfinals – Friday, Nov. 3
Game 3 – #E3 New Hampshire 3, #W2 Cal 2 [OT]
Game 4 – #W3 Pacific 3, #E2 Maine 2

Semifinals – Saturday, Nov. 4
Game 5 – New Hampshire 2, Albany 1 [OT]
Game 6 – Stanford 3, Pacific 2 [OT]

Final – Sunday, Nov. 6
Game 7 – New Hampshire vs. Stanford, 1 p.m.

How We Got Here: Two Wins in Two Days

UNH is making its first America East title game appearance since 2014.
New Hampshire advanced to Sunday's America East Championship title game with Friday's 3-2 overtime win vs. Cal in the quarterfinal and Saturday's 2-1 overtime win against 20^th-ranked UAlbany in the semifinals
In the quarterfinal, UNH erased a pair of one-goal deficits (1-0 in the first half and 2-1 in the second half) on tallies by Gianna Bensaia (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) and Erin McNamara (Sanbornton, N.H.), then Bensaia struck again at 75:12 (on a corner, her shot from the top of the circle deflected off a defender's stick high into the cage) to end the game.
The Wildcats recorded sizable advantages in both shots (24-9) and penalty corners (15-4), including 15-6 and 9-3, respectively, in the second half.
Bensaia matched her career highs in both goals (two) and points (four) vs. Cal.
In the semifinal, UNH struck first on a goal by Kayla Sliz (Ajax, Ontario) at 7:23. The Great Danes leveled the score in the 30^th minute and the teams played to a scoreless second half.
Katie Audino (Severn, Md.) scored with 58 seconds remaining in the first overtime session when she blasted a low shot from the top of the circle that beat retreating UAlbany goalie Melissa Nealon 5-hole and trickled inside the right post.
The 'Cats were outshot 17-6 and out-cornered 9-3 but had the only two shots and only corner in OT.
Ashley Mendonca (Brampton, Ontario) has three assists in the Championship.
Kelsey Rudert (North Grafton, Mass.) has a 1.32 GAA and .800 save percentage in two tournament games; she has made 12 saves and allowed three goals in 159 minutes, 14 seconds of action.
Bloem van den Brekel (Eindhoven, Netherlands) extended her point streak to five games with an assist in the quarterfinal; that streak ended yesterday vs. UAlbany.

Wildcats Win, Win and Win at Wicked Blue Field

UNH has a 3-0 record this season at UMass Lowell's Cushing Field, aka Wicked Blue Field.
All three wins have been in overtime, twice on goals by Gianna Bensaia.
The Wildcats prevailed 2-1 against UMass Lowell on Oct. 6 when Bensaia scored at 82:27. UNH
New Hampshire defeated Cal, 3-2, in Friday's quarterfinal on Bensaia's strike at mm:ss.
The 'Cats upended No. 20 UAlbany, 2-1, yesterday on a goal by Katie Audino at 84:02.
Bensaia has three goals in three games at Wicked Blue Field.
Ashley Mendonca has three assists in as many games.
Kelsey Rudert is 3-0 with a 1.16 GAA and .840 save percentage in three games on this blue turf.

UNH (9-11, 4-4 America East) vs. No. 18 Stanford (12-7, 4-2 America East)

New Hampshire has a 2-3 lifetime record against Stanford.
Back on Sept. 22, Stanford recorded a 3-2 win in double overtime at UNH's Memorial Field when Corinne Zanolli scored at 93:08 (8:08 of the second OT session).
It was Zanolli's second goal of the game. She also gave the Cardinal a 1-0 lead at 4:37.
Katie Audino scored in the 17^th minute to tie the score, but Stanford took a 2-1 advantage into halftime on Kristina Bassi's goal at 29:07.
The Wildcats, who tallied a 9-1 shot advantage and 6-1 edge in corners in the second half, tied the game on a goal by Jessica Schmidt (Warrington, Pa.) – a direct shot off a penalty corner – at 43:43.
UNH finished with the edge in both shots (15-14) and corners (8-4); in the second OT, however, Stanford had a 3-1 shot advantage.
Prior to this year, the previous time these teams met was Sept. 7, 2014, when the Cardinal prevailed 1-0 in overtime on a goal at 74:54.
In 2013, UNH took a 1-0 lead 81 seconds into the game. Stanford tied the score before halftime and scored four unanswered goals for the 5-1 win.
The Wildcats were 6-3 victors at home in 2011 and 3-1 winners in 2002 (at Syracuse University).

State of New Hampshire

UNH, led by 27^th-year head coach Robin Balducci, has a 9-11 overall record that includes 4-4 in America East (East Division) and 3-0 at neutral sites.
UNH carries a season-best three-game win streak into Sunday's America East title game vs. Stanford.
The Wildcats are 4-1 the past five games with a 2-1 mark against nationally-ranked teams.
Seven of the last eight games have been decided by one goal and that includes three in overtime. The 'Cats are 4-3 in those seven games.
UNH is averaging 2.00 goals per game on 15.1 shots and 5.6 penalty corners per game. The opposition averages 2.80 goals, 13.2 shots and 4.4 corners per game.

Inside the Win Streak

The Wildcats have outscored the opposition 7-4 (2.33 gpg to 1.33 gpg) with the slightest of shot advantages (45-44) during the three-game win streak.
UNH has recorded a 27-16 edge in penalty corners, and that includes a season high 15 against Cal in the quarterfinals.
Kelsey Rudert is 3-0 with a 1.22 GAA and .833 save percentage.

High Five

UNH has a 4-1 record the past five games with seven Wildcats contributing to the goals column and four to the assist column.
Katie Audino and Gianna Bensaia both have three goals and an assist for seven points in this span.
Bloem van den Brekel also has seven points on two goals and three assists.
Kelsey Rudert is 4-1 with a 2.09 GAA and .780 save percentage.

UNH in the America East Championships

New Hampshire is making its 23^rd appearance overall – 11^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 been the East Division's third seed all three years of this tourney format.
The 'Cats lost to Pacific in the quarterfinals in both 2015 and 2016.
UNH has a 15-19 overall record in conference postseason play, including this year's two victories.
The 'Cats advanced to the title game five consecutive years (2010-14) and six times in seven years.

Wildcat Trio Honored at America East Banquet

Senior midfielder and captain Gianna Bensaia and junior midfielder Rachel Bossi (Chelmsford, Mass.) were named to the East Division All-Conference Team at Wednesday night's annual conference banquet.
Freshman forward Bloem van den Brekel was named to the All-Rookie Team.
Bensaia is an East Division All-Conference Team selection for the second consecutive year.

van den Brekel Voted Rookie of the Week

Bloem van den Brekel was named America East Rookie of the Week on Monday.
She received the award twice – the opening weekend of the season and the last weekend of the regular season.
van den Brekel recorded two goals, including one game-winning goal, and an assist for a total of five points in two games against nationally-ranked teams last week.

Three Games in Three Days

UNH will have to win three games in three days to win the 2017 America East tournament title and advance to the NCAA tourney.
New Hampshire played consecutive days once during the regular season, when the 'Cats lost 4-0 at No. 21 UAlbany (Sept. 16) and 3-0 at No. 17 Harvard University (Sept. 17).

Conference Call

Senior midfielder and captain Ashley Mendonca is tied for third in America East in defensive saves with three.
Bloem van den Brekel is tied for fourth in assists (nine).
Katie Audino is tied for eighth in goals (10).

At a Glance

UNH is 6-2 when scoring at least three goals and is 3-9 when scoring less than three goals; two of the wins have been during this three-game win streak against nationally-ranked teams (2-1 at No. 25 Maine last Sunday and 2-1 in OT yesterday vs. No. 20 UAlbany).
UNH has played 11 games against nationally-ranked teams (3-8 record).
The Wildcats have a 129-116 first-half shot advantage but have been outscored 24-14 in the opening 35 minutes of games.
Overall, New Hampshire has been outscored 56-40 despite recording a 301-265 shot advantage. The Wildcats have also recorded a 112-88 edge in penalty corners.
UNH has recorded the shot advantage in 10 of 20 games and the 'Cats have also had the edge in corners 10 times.

Stats Leaders

Katie Audino leads the Wildcats in goals (10) and points (24).
Bloem van den Brekel is atop the team leaderboard in assists (nine) and shots (48); she ranks second in both goals (seven) and points (23).
Gianna Bensaia ranks third in goals (five), assists (five) and points (15).
Ashley Mendonca has a team-high three defensive saves. Sophomore back Nicky Bajus (Lions Bay, British Columbia) has UNH's other defensive save.
Junior goalkeeper Kelsey Rudert has started 13 consecutive games and 19 of 20 overall. Rudert has a 9-10 record with a 2.67 GAA and .664 save percentage.
Sophomore goalie Madelyn McAteer (Annapolis, Md.) is 0-1 with a 2.52 GAA and .682 save percentage in five games (one start: at Harvard; Sept. 17); she has not seen game action since Oct. 18 at Darmtouth (6:59 relief stint in which she did not face a shot on goal).

Top 10 List

Gianna Bensaia enters the America East title game with 21 career assists, which is tied for No. 10 on the program's career leaderboard with Kristin Iarrusso (1996-99) and Casey Pohlmeyer (2010-13).
Ahead of that trio is No. 9 Sandi Costigan (1985-86) with 22 and No. 7 Nicole Pellechia (1991-94) and current assistant coach Kellie Joyce (2011-14) with 23. Tami Street (1998-2001) is No. 6 with 24.

Close Calls

The 'Cats have a 7-5 record in games decided by one goal, and that includes 5-2 in overtime (0-2 in double OT).
All three wins during the three-game win streak have been by one goal.
Each of UNH's last five wins has been by a one-goal margin; 7 of 9 wins overall have been by one goal (the other two wins were by a 3-1 score).
Junior midfielder Rachel Bossi scored UNH's overtime goals against both Northeastern and Iowa; Gianna Bensaia potted the OT game-winner at UMass Lowell and vs. Cal; Katie Audino struck in overtime against UAlbany.

First Blood

The opponents have taken a 1-0 lead 11 of the past 15 games; New Hampshire did strike first in Saturday's semifinal vs. UAlbany.

Looking Back

New Hampshire closed the regular season with last weekend's 4-2 home loss to No. 22 UAlbany and 2-1 win at No. 25 Maine.
UNH battled back from a pair of two-goal deficits against UAlbany to trim the deficit to 3-2 with 9:08 remaining in the second half, but the Great Danes scored less than four minutes later to secure the win in the Oct. 27 game at Memorial Field.
In the Oct. 29 regular-season finale at Maine, the Wildcats erased a 1-0 halftime deficit on goals by Katie Audino and Bloem van den Brekel.

'Cat Nips

Junior goalie Kesley Rudert (North Grafton, Mass.) made a career-high 12 saves, including eight in the second half, last Friday against 22^nd-ranked UAlbany.
Bloem van den Brekel recorded a goal and an assist vs. UAlbany and then scored the game-winning goal at 25^th-ranked Maine. She ended the regular season on a four-game point streak (3-3-9) and has a point in 7 of 8 games and 9 of 11.
Sophomore forward Tiana Morin (Barre, Mass.) scored her first goal of the season in the first half against UAlbany.
Junior forward Katie Audino scored her team-leading ninth goal of the year in the regular-season finale at Maine. She also recorded an assist on van den Brekel's game-winning goal.

Bensaia named NFHCA Senior All-Star

Senior midfielder and captain Gianna Bensaia was named to the 2017 Victory Sports Tours/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I Senior Game roster.
She was one of 38 student-athletes selected to participate for the game that will be held Nov. 17 (7 p.m.) at the University of Louisville in conjunction with the NCAA field hockey championships.

Balducci Bio

This is the 27^th season as UNH head coach for Robin Balducci.
She is the program's all-time winningest coach with 270 career victories, including nine wins in 2017.
Balducci was inducted into the NFHCA Hall of Fame on Jan. 5, 2017.
She was inducted into UNH's Hall of Fame in 1998 and was also part of the 1985 NCAA national championship women's lacrosse team that was enshrined in 1994.
Balducci is a six-time America East Coach of the Year (1998, 2000-10-11-12-13).

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