Border Battle Continues March 28 at Maine (AE.tv)

BORDER BATTLE presented by Buffalo Wild Wings
New Hampshire (4-3, 1-2 America East) at Maine (2-2, 2-0 AE)
Sunday, March 28 | 1 PM
UMaine Field Hockey Turf | Orono, Maine

WATCH on americaeast.tv | Live Stats

UNH Field Hockey Home Page
Maine Field Hockey Home Page

THE MATCHUP | CLICK HERE for series history, boxes & recaps (Oct. 2005-now)

UNH has a 29-18 lifetime record against Maine; the Black Bears have won the past two meetings by an aggregate score of 6-0.
In the most recent matchup (Nov. 1, 2019), Maine prevailed 2-0 at Memorial Field.
UNH's most recent win was Sept. 28, 2018 (3-2 at home).
The road team won both meetings in the 2017 season.
The Black Bears won five straight spanning the 2015-17 seasons.
Before that, the Wildcats won seven straight from 2010-14.
Eight of the last 13 meetings have been decided by one goal.

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

UNH has a 4-3 overall record that includes 0-1 on the road and 1-2 in America East (0-0 in conference road games).
The Wildcats went 1-2 in a six-day spanning March 19-24; the Wildcats lost 1-0 to UAlbany (March 19), defeated UC Davis, 2-0 (March 21), and lost to Stanford, 3-0 (March 24).
Six of UNH's seven games have ended with a shutout; the Wildcats have blanked three opponents and been shut out three times.
UNH is 1-1 against teams ranked in this week's NFHCA national poll; the Wildcats defeated UMass (3-1 score) and lost to BC (2-0 score).
Led by 30^th-year head coach Robin Balducci, UNH returns seven starters and 14 letterwinners from the 2019 squad that went 8-10 with a pair of wins against nationally-ranked teams and advanced to the America East quarterfinals.
The Wildcats also welcome back a redshirt freshman, have added one transfer and a total of nine freshmen.
Eight 'Cats have started every game this season, and that includes freshman Lindsay Lee; classmate Rosalie Post has started all five games that she has played.

THREE WILDCATS NAMED NFHCA SCHOLARS OF DISTINCTION

Senior Conner Allen and freshmen Reagan Calcari and Olivia Watson were named NFHCA Scholars of Distinction on March 25. Allen has received this honor all four years.
Student-athletes with a cumulative grade-point-average of 3.9 or higher through the first semester of the 2020-21 academic year earn this accolade.

THE NUMBERS GAME

New Hampshire has outscored the opposition 14-7, but the opponents have the slight edge in shots (70-68) and penalty corners are even at 26; BC accounts for 14 of the opponents' corners and Stanford tallied 19 shots.
The Wildcats are averaging 2.00 goals, 9.7 shots and 3.7 penalty corners per game. In comparison, opponents have averaged 1.00 goals, 10.0 shots and 3.7 corners per game.
UNH has scored 14 goals on 68 shots for a .206 shooting percentage; the opponents are 7-for-70 (.100 shooting percentage).

STINGY DEFENSE

In four wins, UNH has allowed totals of one goal and 19 shots; that includes three shutouts as well as two games in which the Wildcats have limited the opponent to three shots.
New Hampshire did not yield a penalty corner in both games last weekend vs. UAlbany and UC Davis.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED

Wednesday's 3-0 final score was a reflection of Stanford's 19-3 shot advantage, but was not indicative of how close the score was for a majority of the game.
Stanford recorded an 11-0 shot advantage in the first half, but UNH goalie Jemma Woods made eight saves to keep the Cardinal scoreless through 30 minutes.
Stanford broke the scoreless tie in the 41^st minute and led 1-0 through three quarters.
The Cardinal held that one-goal margin with five minutes left in regulation. They struck again in the 57^th minute and closed the scoring with eight seconds remaining.
Woods finished the game with nine saves. Stanford counterpart Hannah Santos was credited with one save.

LAST SUNDAY

UNH scored a goal late in both halves and Jemma Woods recorded five saves in the Wildcats' 2-0 win against UC Davis at Memorial Field last Sunday.
Sophomore Ava Mariani scored with 41 seconds remaining in the second quarter to break the scoreless tie and junior Tia Raspante scored with 63 seconds left in regulation to secure the win.
Freshman Lindsay Lee recorded her first career point with an assist on Mariani's goal and tallied another assist on Raspante's goal.
Lee is the first Wildcat to record two assists in a game this season and is now the team leader with those two assists.
Rosalie Post, another freshman, recorded a defensive save in the 20^th minute to keep the game scoreless.

OFFENSIVE OUTPUT

Junior Finn Caron and sophomore Ava Mariani are tied for the team lead in both goals (four) and points (eight).
Caron has a team-high 12 shots and a .333 shooting percentage. She matched her career highs in both goals (three) and points (six) against Merrimack on March 3.
Mariani has scored four goals on nine shots for a .444 shooting percentage. She scored two goals against Merrimack to match her career highs in both goals and points (four).
Senior captain Bloem van den Brekel has one goal and one assist for three points, as does junior Tori Palumbo. van den Brekel ranks second on the team with 11 shots.
Freshman Lindsay Lee has a team-high two assists.

ACTIVE LEADERBOARD

Senior captain Bloem van den Brekel has career totals of 19 goals and 15 assists for 53 points in 61 games. She is UNH's active leader in assists and points.
Junior Finn Caron is the active leader in career goals with 21, and her 46 points rank second to van den Brekel.
Senior captain Isabelle Danahy leads all current 'Cats with 64 games played.

DEFENDING THE CAGE

Sophomore Jemma Woods has started each of the last six games and redshirt freshman Nikki Tredwell saw action the first two games of the season.
The duo combined to shut out Merrimack College on March 3 and has combined to record a 1.00 GAA and .825 save percentage.
Woods has a 3-3 record with a 1.09 GAA, .824 save percentage (28 saves; six goals against) and two shutouts.
She recorded her first career shutout March 14 against Northeastern and, two days earlier, made a career-high 10 saves at Boston College.
In the 2019 season as a rookie, Woods played 1015:13 of a possible 1125:38 (90.2%) with 16 starts in 17 games. She finished with an 8-8 record, 2.25 GAA and .678 save percentage.
Tredwell is 1-0 with a 0.67 GAA and .833 save percentage in 90 minutes. She made her collegiate debut by starting against UMass, and she stopped 5 of 6 shots to record her first career win in UNH's 3-1 victory on Feb. 26.
Tredwell played the second half of the Merrimack game and did not face a shot on goal in 30 minutes.

ELEVEN 'CATS NAMED TO NATIONAL ACADEMIC SQUAD

A total of 11 UNH field hockey players were named to the 2020 National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I National Academic Squad.
The National Academic Squad program honors student-athletes who have achieved a cumulative grade-point average of 3.30 or higher through the first semester of the 2020-21 academic year.
Conner Allen and Erin Malone have been named to the National Academic Squad all four years.
Isabelle Danahy and Tori Palumbo were feted for the third consecutive year.
Reagan Calcari, Gigi Fay, Lindsay Lee, Molly McAteer, Nikki Tredwell, Olivia Watson and Jemma Woods were all first-time honorees.

THREE IN A HURRY

New Hampshire scored four goals in the second quarter of the March 3 game vs. Merrimack, three of which were scored in a span of 3 minutes, 56 seconds. Sophomore Ava Mariani ignited the spurt just 28 seconds into the second quarter, followed by consecutive goals by junior Finn Caron at 17:08 and 19:24 to extend UNH's lead to 5-0.
In the Feb. 26 season opener vs. UMass, the Wildcats scored three third-quarter goals in 3 minutes, 4 seconds to quickly transform a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead.
Mariani scored off a rebound at 33:00 to ignite the rally and then Caron converted another rebound into a goal and 2-1 lead at 35:16.
Senior captain Bloem van den Brekel scored 48 seconds later when she intercepted a clearing attempt on the right side of the circle and fired a reverse-stick into the cage.

THE CAPTAINS

UNH is captained by seniors Isabelle Danahy and Bloem van den Brekel.
Danahy started 35 of 36 games the previous two seasons, including all 18 in the 2019 season. The midfielder/back ranked fourth among field players in minutes played (960 of a possible 1,125) and recorded a total of six points on two goals and two assists.
This season, Danahy has started every game and played 318 of a possible 360 minutes.
van den Brekel has already had a highly-decorated career at UNH. She was named to the NFHCA Northeast Region First Team in 2019, one year after making the Second Team. van den Brekel has also been selected to the America East East Division All-Conference Team each of the past two years.
The midfielder tied for the lead in assists (three), tied for third in points (11) and tied for fourth in goals (four) in the 2019 season, when she was also credited with a defensive save.
This season, van den Brekel has started every game and played 335 of 360 minutes.

THE SENIORS

UNH has five seniors, including the aforementioned captains, on the Spring 2021 roster.
Erin Malone has been an anchor of New Hampshire's defensive unit the past two years. She had nine starts in 12 games as a sophomore in 2018 and increased those numbers to 15 starts in 17 games in 2019. Malone was credited with one defensive save in '19.
Malone did not play in the 2021 opener but has started each of the past six games and played the full 60 each of the past five games; she has been on the field 353 of 360 minutes.
Conner Allen is one of the lynchpins at midfield. In her first year as a Wildcat in 2019, Allen played in 16 games with eight starts, including the last five games of the regular season.
Allen recorded her first point as a 'Cat with an assist in the March 14 win against Northeastern.
She leads all Wildcats in minutes played with 410 of a possible 420.
In the Feb. 26 season opener, Allen made a key defensive stop at the 25 when her tackle denied UMass' potential 2-on-1 rush, and she has continued to make impactful defensive plays.
Megan Borneman adds depth to the defensive unit. She played in four games her first three years as a Wildcat. She made her spring 2021 debut in the game vs. Merrimack and also saw action vs. Northeastern and Stanford.

WILDCATS RANKED IN FIRST NATIONAL POLL OF SEASON

New Hampshire entered the inaugural Penn-Monto NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll of the season (that was released March 16) at No. 18.
The Wildcats were the only America East team in that top-20 poll.
No conference teams are ranked in this week's poll (March 23).

UNH PICKED FIFTH IN AMERICA EAST PRESEASON POLL

UNH was voted fifth in the Spring 2021 America East Field Hockey Preseason Poll that was released Feb. 17.
Monmouth topped the poll with 60 points and five first-place votes. Maine (56 points; three first-place votes) was next, followed by a tie for third between Stanford and UAlbany with 46 points.
UNH (32) was followed by Cal (29), UMass Lowell (21), Vermont (18) and UC Davis (16).

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Conner Allen

Megan Borneman

Reagan Calcari

Finn Caron

Isabelle Danahy

Gigi Fay

Lindsay Lee

Erin Malone

Ava Mariani

Molly McAteer

Tori Palumbo

Rosalie Post

Tia Raspante

Nikki Tredwell

Bloem van den Brekel

Olivia Watson

Jemma Woods

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