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2011

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NEC FIELD HOCKEY FACTS & FIGURES NEC FIELD HOCKEY STANDINGS WEEK 8 RELEASE • Oct. 17, 2011 NEC Player of the Week SCHOOL...... NEC PCT. OVR. PCT. STR. HOME AWAY NEU. Aug. 29 ��Danielle Allan, QU 1. Rider ...... 4-0 1.000 13-1 .929 W9 4-0 8-1 1-0 ��Virginia Egusquiza, RID Monmouth ...... 4-0 1.000 12-4 .750 W6 7-2 5-1 0-1 Sept.6 ��Virginia Egusquiza, RID 3. St. Francis (PA) ...... 3-1 .750 5-11 .312 W2 4-2 1-7 0-2 Sept. 12 ��Michelle Lewthwaite, RMU Sept. 19 �� Kim Cunniff, QU 4. Quinnipiac ...... 2-2 .500 8-7 .533 L2 6-1 2-6 0-0 Sept. 26 ��Nicole Manziano, MON 5. Bryant ...... 1-3 .250 7-8 .467 L1 4-3 3-5 0-0 Oct. 3...... M. Pieczynski (MON) & V. Egusquiza (RID) Robert Morris ...... 1-3 .250 7-10 .412 W1 5-2 1-6 1-2 Oct. 10 �� Michelle Pieczynski, MON Sacred Heart ...... 1-3 .250 4-11 .267 L2 2-3 2-5 0-3 8. Siena ...... 0-4 .000 0-15 .000 L15 0-7 0-8 0-0

NEC Player of the Week NEC Rookie of the Week PATRICIA O’DWYER, MONMOUTH Aug. 29 ��Danielle Allan, QU So., F, 5-9, Dublin, Ireland Sept. 6 �� Autumn Pellman, SFPA From Nicole Manziano to Michelle Pieczynski to O’Dwyer, the NEC Player of the Week award remains in Hawk hands Sept. 12 ��Michelle Lewthwaite, RMU for a fourth consecutive week. O’Dwyer played a part in three of the four goals Monmouth scored during its two NEC Sept. 19 �� Erin McKenzie, RMU Sept. 26 �� Rosie Bird, BRY victories this past weekend, which pushed its win streak to six games and allowed the team to keep pace with Rider for Oct. 3 �� Rosie Bird, BRY first place in the league standings. The Irish-born sophomore staked Monmouth to a 2-0 lead in Friday’s 3-2 victory Oct. 10 �� Autumn Pellman, SFPA over Quinnipiac by rattling the cage twice in the game’s first 11:55. Thirty-three seconds into the contest, O’Dwyer redirected a pass from Ashley McPeek passed the QU keeper. Only minutes later, she pounced on a loose ball and tucked it inside the left post. The second-year Hawk sparked Monmouth’s lone goal in a 1-0 shutout of Sacred Heart two days later. She sent the ball across the goal mouth and Michelle Pieczynski tipped it in for what-proved-to-be the game-winning tally in the 20th minute.

NEC Co-Rookie of the Week JAMIE HARTLEY, ROBERT MORRIS Fr., M, 5-6, Tamworth, Australia Hartley was responsible three of Robert Morris’ four goals in NEC play this past weekend. Adding to her team-leading goal total, Hartley gave the Colonials an early 1-0 lead against Bryant by converting off of a penalty corner in the 18th VISIT US ONLINE FOR SCORES minute of an eventual 2-1 overtime defeat. Two days later, she was at the forefront of RMU’s first NEC victory of the AND UPDATES AT season. The Australian provided a pair of tallies that allowed the Colonials to jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first 11 WWW.NORTHEASTCONFERENCE.ORG minutes of a 3-2 triumph over Siena. The midfielder’s second tally, which came off a blast from the top of the circle, NEC PRESEASON POLL proved to be the game-winner in a victory that snapped the Colonials’ five-game slide. 1. Rider (4) NEC Co-Rookie of the Week 2. Monmouth (2) AUTUMN PELLMAN, SAINT FRANCIS (PA) 3. Quinnipiac (2) Fr., F, 5-10, Millerstown, PA/Greenwood 4. Bryant Pellman continued her goal-scoring tear this past weekend. The freshman forward accounted for three tallies over a 5. Saint Francis (PA) pair of Northeast Conference victories. She doubled Saint Francis’ lead in an eventual 3-0 shutout of Siena by notching 6. Sacred Heart an unassisted tally 2:59 into the second half. Helping the Flash to their second straight victory, which pushed their 7. Robert Morris NEC record to 3-1, Pellman provided a pair of insurance tallies in a 4-0 shutout of Bryant. Pellman’s team-high 12 8. Siena goals rank second amongst NEC freshmen this season. First-place votes in parentheses ( ). WWW.NORTHEASTCONFERENCE.ORG AROUND THE LEAGUE Red Flash Revival Saint Francis (PA) won back-to-back NEC contests this past weekend, doing so by a combined 7-0 margin. The two wins moved the Flash’s NEC record to 3-1, matching last year’s NEC win total with three games still to play. The Red Flash’s single-season program record for NEC wins is four (2007).

RMU Turns the Tables After setting the program’s single-season record with its sixth victory, Robert Morris fell into a five-game funk. The Colonials dropped five in a row, all by a one-goal margin. RMU slammed the brakes on the slide this past weekend when it edged Siena by a goal.

Climbing Higher Seniors Virginia Egusquiza (Getxo, Spain) and Megan Pisani (West Windsor, NJ) and sophomore Sandra Penas (Barcelona, Spain) continue their ascent up Rider’s all-time scoring list; Penas is tied for 13th with 70 career points (29g, 12a), Pisani has 102 points (46g, 10a) and is in fifth place (passing Courtney Bertos and Tricia Crotty) and Egusquiza has 140 points (41 goals, 58 assists) and is now in second place behind only Christina Ang who is Rider’s all-time leading scorer with 144 points (66 goals, 12 assists from 2001-2004).

That’s Clutch Junior Gabby Burgo has scored five times for Rider this season but three of the goals have given the Broncs a lead they would not relinquish. Burgo scored Rider’s first goal at Liberty, at Siena and at Bryant

TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES BRYANT BULLDOGS MONMOUTH HAWKS OVERALL RECORD: 7-8, 1-3 NEC - RECORD LAST WEEK: 1-1 OVERALL RECORD: 12-4, 4-0 NEC - RECORD LAST WEEK: 2-0 LAST WEEK’S OPPONENTS: W, 2-1 (OT) at ROBERT MORRIS (Oct. 14); L, 4-0 at SAINT LAST WEEK’S OPPONENTS: W, 3-2 vs. QUINNIPIAC (Oct. 14); W, 1-0 vs. SACRED HEART FRANCIS (PA) (Oct. 16) (Oct. 16) THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS: Oct. 21 vs. SACRED HEART; Oct. 23 vs. QUINNIPIAC THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS: Oct. 20 vs. RIDER; Oct. 23 vs. SAINT FRANCIS (PA)

• The Bulldogs trailed Robert Morris, 1-0, heading • For the second time in as many years, and into halftime, but Rosie Bird (Hamilton, New A ROSIE ROOKIE SEASON third time in program history, MU has started HOT HAWKS Zealand) knotted the game at 1-1 just six minutes Bryant freshman forward Rosie Bird conference play with four straight victories. Monmouth was 6-4 heading into its final into the second stanza, and scored the game- leads all NEC rookies in goals, having Overall, the Hawks are currently on a six- two non-conference contests. The Hawks winner 11:18 into overtime. Both goals were scored 13 in her first 14 games. Bird game winning streak. caught fire and have not cooled since. Win- scored via penalty corners. has already worked her way up to • GK Teresa Mathews (Lumberton, NJ/ ners of six in a row, Monmouth owns a 12-4 • The Bulldogs dropped a tough 4-0 decision fifth place on the program’s single- Rancocas Valley) made three saves in the record and is threatening the single-season against SFPA on Sunday. It marked just the season scoring list with 27 points weekend’s contests. The sophomore has record for wins (15) it set in 2010. second time this season that Bryant has been shut made all 16 starts this season, compiling a and at least three games to play. out by an opponent. 1.84 GAA and a .725 save percentage. • Sitting in a three-way tie for fifth, the Bulldogs • Junior Michelle Pieczynski (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks West) registered the game- control their own destiny with three more winner in both contests over the weekend. The forward, who is Monmouth’s all-time leading conference games remaining against fourth-place Quinnipiac, fifth-place Sacred Heart and scorer, now has 17 tallies this year. Patricia O’Dwyer (Dublin, Ireland/Loreto Beaufort) scored eighth-place Siena. two goals over the weekend, while assisting Pieczynski on the game-winner on Sunday. • Bird has scored two goals in a game four times this season. • Pieczynski’s two goals keeps her as the team leader with 38 points (17 g, 4 a), followed by O’Dwyer, who now has 25 points (9 g, 7 a). RIDER BRONCS QUINNIPIAC BOBCATS OVERALL RECORD: 13-1, 4-0 NEC - RECORD LAST WEEK: 2-0 OVERALL RECORD: 8-7, 2-2 NEC - RECORD LAST WEEK: 0-2

LAST WEEK’S OPPONENTS: W, 4-0 vs. SACRED HEART (Oct. 14); W, 5-1 vs. QUINNIPIAC (Oct. 16) LAST WEEK’S OPPONENTS: L, 3-2 at MONMOUTH (Oct. 14); L, 5-1 at RIDER (Oct. 16) THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS: Oct. 20 at MONMOUTH; Oct. 23 vs. ROBERT MORRIS THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS: Oct. 21 at SIENA; Oct. 23 vs. BRYANT

• Winners of nine in a row, and 20 straight NEC regular • With a pair of goals against Monmouth in a 3-2 loss, Kait- season games dating back to 2008, Rider has started ZERO HERO lyn Notarianni (Clarks Summitt, PA) matched her career high 4-0 in conference play for the fourth year in a row. Goalie Rebecca Lotito, who is 26-3 of seven goals. Notarianni also has a career-best five assists Since 2007, Rider is 31-2 in regular season conference in her career, allowed only one goal this season to give her a personal-best 19 points on the year. play. in 140 minutes this past week (two Notarianni is also the first Quinnipiac since 2006 to reach five • It took Rider 14 games to win 13 times this season. games) and has seven shutouts on goals and five assists in a season. Last season it took 16 games for the Broncs to hit the the season (14 in her career) with 0.74 • Kimberly Cunniff (Walpole, MA) scored the Bobcats’ only 13-win mark. GAA. Overall, eight of Rider’s 13 wins goal in a 5-1 loss to Rider. • Undefeated (13-0) all-time at the recently named Ben have been by shutout. Cohen Field on the Lawrenceville campus, Rider hosts Cunniff and Jess Rusin (Garwood, NJ) are now tied for the Robert Morris on October 23 and Pennsylvania October team lead with 10 goals apiece. Quinnipiac has not had two 26 in the final two regular season home games. The Broncs will honor its graduating seniors prior to 10-goal scorers in a season since 2002 (Chelsea Osbrey and the game against the Colonials. Danielle Avenoso). • Rider and Quinnipiac wore pink shoes laces this past Sunday, participating in the Play 4 The Cure • Megan McCreedy (White River, South Africa) currently effort to raise awareness and donations for the Susan G., Komen Foundation in the effort to eradicate stands at 21 career assists, trailing all-time leader Courtney breast cancer. Several hundred dollars was raised by over 300 fans in attendance. Ryan’s (’03) total of 24 with three games to play in the regular season. • Rider did nothing to hurt its national rankings this past week, winning twice by a combined 9-1 score. As of October 9, Rider led the nation in penalty corners and scoring margin and was second in goals per game, scoring average, shutouts per game and points per game and fourth in winning percentage. WWW.NORTHEASTCONFERENCE.ORG ROBERT MORRIS COLONIALS SACRED HEART PIONEERS OVERALL RECORD: 7-10, 1-3 NEC - RECORD LAST WEEK: 1-1 OVERALL RECORD: 4-11, 1-3 NEC - RECORD LAST WEEK: 0-2 LAST WEEK’S OPPONENTS: L, 2-1 (OT) vs. BRYANT (Oct. 14); W, 3-2 vs. SIENA (Oct. 16) LAST WEEK’S OPPONENTS: L, 4-0 at RIDER (Oct. 14); L, 1-0 at MONMOUTH (Oct. 16) THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS: Oct.21 vs. SAINT FRANCIS (PA); Oct. 23 at RIDER THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS: Oct. 21 at BRYANT; Oct. 23 vs. SIENA

• The Colonials snapped a five-game losing streak RECORD YEAR • Kim Stow (Norwalk, CT) made 35 saves on the weekend, on Sunday, adding to its single-season program record win total. The Colonials’ seven wins in 2011 have but the Pioneers fell to Rider 4-0 on Friday and Monmouth • Robert Morris is 5-2 at home this season. 1-0 on Sunday. already topped the program’s previous • Freshman midfielderJamie Hartley (Tamworth, • Stow averages 7.8 saves per contest, third in the NEC. single-season record. Robert Morris Australia) tallied three goals over the weekend • The Pioneers return to action Friday night at Bryant before to help RMU earn its first NEC win of the season. won five games in the 2008 season. coming home for their Senior Day on Sunday afternoon The freshman scored the Colonials’ only goal in against Siena in what will be their final game of the season at Friday’s 2-1 overtime loss to Bryant before adding Campus Field. two goals in Sunday’s 3-2 win over Siena. • Hartley now leads RMU with eight goals and 21 points on the season.

SAINT FRANCIS (PA) RED FLASH SIENA SAINTS OVERALL RECORD: 5-11, 3-1 NEC - RECORD LAST WEEK: 2-0 OVERALL RECORD: 0-15, 0-4 NEC - RECORD LAST WEEK: 0-2 LAST WEEK’S OPPONENTS: W, 3-0 vs. SIENA (Oct. 14); W, 4-0 vs. BRYANT (Oct. 16) LAST WEEK’S OPPONENTS: L, 3-0 at SAINT FRANCIS (PA) (Oct. 14); L, 3-2 at ROBERT THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS: Oct. 21 at ROBERT MORRIS; Oct. 23 at MONMOUTH MORRIS (Oct. 16) THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS: Oct. 21 vs. QUINNIPIAC; Oct. 23 at SACRED HEART

• Freshman Autumn Pellman (Millerstown, PA/Green- • Siena dropped two more games as its losing streak hit 15. wood) became the Red Flash’s single season record holder • The Saints fell behind 3-0 at Robert Morris in the first 11 minutes, but did not quit. Siena for goals (12) and points (25). pecked away, though, using goals from Jessica Smith (Greenland, NH) and Kelly Johans- • SFU tied the school record for wins in a season over the meyer (Shelburne Falls, MA) to cut the deficit to 3-2 in the 43rd minute. weekend and set a new record for home victories moving • Sophomore goalkeeper Beth Meyers (Guilderland, NY) has now compiled 191 saves through to 4-2 at DeGol Field. 15 games, and needs just nine more to become the third Siena net-minder with 200 in a single • Saint Francis travels to Robert Morris Friday looking to move to 4-1 in conference play for the season. first time in school history. • GK Katelyn Vitali (Churchville, MD/Wright) posted two shutouts over the weekend, making five saves. SFU goalkeepers have a 1.00 GAA in home contests this season.

YEAR-BY-YEAR TOURNAMENT CHAMPION 1998...... No Tournament Contested 1999 ��Quinnipiac 2000 �� Rider 2001 ��Quinnipiac 2002 �� Rider 2003 ��Quinnipiac 2004 �� Rider 2005 �� Sacred Heart 2006 �� Lock Haven 2007 �� Lock Haven 2008 �� Lock Haven 2009 �� Lock Haven 2010 NEC FIELD HOCKEY CHAMPION RIDER BRONCS 2010 �� Rider

2011 NEC FIELD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP The 2011 Northeast Conference Tournament, the winner of which will represent the league in the NCAA Opening Round, is slated for November 4 & 5 and will once again be played at the home facility of the No. 1 seed.