Patriot League Official Athletic Site

Aug. 31, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. -- Forward Christine Fingerhuth led a trio of American field hockey players who won weekly awards from the Patriot League. Fingerhuth was named the League's Offensive Player of the Week, while teammates Anne van Erp was the Defensive Player of the Week and Alyssa Poorman was the Goalkeeper of the Week. Colgate freshman Sara Kongkatong was named the League's Rookie of the Week.

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Offensive Player of the Week (8.28.09-8.30.09)

Christine Fingerhuth, American, Jr., F, Santiago, Chile/Deutsche Schule Santiago Fingerhuth led the Eagles over the weekend, scoring single tallies in games against Indiana and Richmond. She scored the Eagles' only goal in a 2-1 loss to Indiana on Friday and kicked off the scoring in a 2-1 win over Richmond. Both opponents received votes in the NFHCA Division I Preseason Poll.

Defensive Player of the Week (8.28.09-8.30.09)

Anne van Erp, American, Jr., M/D, Hilversum, Netherlands/Gemeentelijk Gymnasium Hilversum Van Erp anchored the American defense as the Eagles went 1-1 against Indiana and Richmond. Van Erp helped hold Indiana to six shots on goal and four penalty corners in a 2-1 loss. She tallied an assist in the Eagles' 2-1 win over Richmond. Van Erp and the Eagles held the Spiders to just three shots on goal and one penalty corner.

Goalkeeper of the Week (8.28.09-8.30.09)

Alyssa Poorman, American, Sr., GK, Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks South Poorman had a solid weekend against two tough opponents, holding Indiana and Richmond to a combined three goals -- two teams that received votes in the top-20 NFHCA Division I Preseason Poll. Poorman, a Second-Team All-League keeper in 2008, recorded four saves against Indiana in a 2-1 loss and two saves against Richmond in a 2-1 win.

Rookie of the Week (8.28.09-8.30.09)

Sara Kongkatong, Colgate, Fr., M, Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg Kongkatong scored her first collegiate goal in her first game as a Colgate Raider. She notched the Raiders' only goal in a 2-1 loss to Monmouth (N.J.) Saturday. Her first goal came with less than four minutes remaining in the contest. Kongkatong came off the bench and provided a spark, recording two of Colgate's 12 shots.

Honorable Mention Performances Last Week

Jenn Bradley, American, Fr., M, Pequea, Pa./Penn Manor Bradley helped American to a 1-1 record, tallying an assist, while holding opponents to three goals, nine shots on goal and five penalty corners.

Austin Thomas, Bucknell, Sr., F, Tunkhannock/Tunkhannock Thomas scored two goals, including the game-winner for the Bison in a 6-1 win over Siena Sunday. She sent three of her four shots on goal.

Jessie Atieh, Bucknell, Sr., GK, North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex Atieh recorded seven saves in a 2-0 loss to Albany, while earning the victory in a 6-1 win over Siena. She played all 70 minutes in each contest.

Patriot League Notebook

Stay Strong

Two of American's three major award winners return for the 2009 season after leading the Eagles to their sixth straight League title. Defensive Player of the Year Anne-Meike De Wiljes and Rookie of the Year Tatum Dyer will look to lead American to title No. 7. Led by the reigning five-time Patriot League Coach of the Year Steve Jennings, American also returns its tournament MVP from 2008 in junior Christine Fingerhuth, who figures to take over for the 2008 Offensive Player of the Year, graduated senior Irene Schickhardt. As a sophomore, Fingerhuth was named to the Longstreth/NFHCA Division I All-America third team. This season, she's off to a fast start, scoring two goals in two games.

Cooking A Winning Recipe

Bucknell was extremely close to ending American's League title streak, but a second-half comeback thwarted the Bison's championship charge. Still, under first-year head coach Jeremy Cook, Bucknell made strides in the right direction, finishing third in the League standings and upsetting No. 2-seeded Lafayette in the first round of the League tournament. It was the Bison's first playoff win since 2000, when Bucknell won a first-round contest against then-associate member Fairfield. Bucknell will return two Second-Team All-Patriot League players, Morgan Kauffman and Corrine Raczek, from last season's 11-8 squad.

Several Raiders Ready To Raid Record Book

Colgate goalie Sarah Pedersen is two wins short of moving into the top five all-time at Colgate for wins in her career. The senior net minder has 17 in her career. Mika Ella-Tang is inching her way closer toward moving into Colgate's top 10 all-time for career assists. The senior has 10 for her career, which is tied for 14th. In 2008, she produced nine assists, which was ranked tied for sixth all-time in a single-season. Katelyn Nerbonne has nine career assists and needs five more to move into Colgate's top 10.

Honor Roll: Party of Six

All six Patriot League field hockey teams were honored by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association when it released its 2008 NFHCA Division I National Academic Team Awards after last season. As a team, American finished fifth among Division I squads with a 3.44 grade-point average. Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette and Lehigh also were honored as programs with a team GPA of 3.0 or higher, marking the second consecutive season that all six Patriot League squads were named to the list.

Preseason Polls

American was selected to finish first in the 2009 Patriot League Field Hockey Preseason Poll for the seventh straight season. The Eagles, coming off their sixth straight Patriot League Tournament title, earned 49 points and nine first-place votes in the preseason poll, which is voted on by the League's six field hockey coaches and six field hockey sports information directors. Lafayette was selected to finish second with 42 points and three first-place votes. Colgate (34 points), Bucknell (27), Holy Cross (16) and Lehigh (12) round out the League's standings in the preseason poll. American also was recognized nationally by being ranked 14th in the NFHCA Division I Preseason Poll. Bucknell was the only other Patriot League school recognized in the poll, receiving votes and placing just outside the nation's top 20.

2009 Patriot League Championship

The 2009 Patriot League Field Hockey Championship will be held Friday-Saturday, Nov. 6-7 at the site of the highest seed. Two semifinal games will take place on Friday, Nov. 6, with the No. 1 seed facing the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed facing the No. 3 seed. The championship game will be played on Saturday, Nov. 7.

Team Notebooks

American The Eagles opened the season with two wins over teams receiving votes in the NFHCA Division I Preseason Poll. The Eagles dropped their opener 2-1 to Indiana before winning 2-1 over Richmond. Forward Christine Fingerhuth led the way scoring two goals -- one in each game -- while keeper Alyssa Poorman anchored the defense with six saves. No. 14 American will travel to Ohio University where it will face Michigan State at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Bucknell The Bison went 1-1 in the opening weekend, falling 2-0 to Albany on Saturday and winning 6-1 over Siena on Sunday. Forward Austin Thomas scored two goals, including the game-winner, in Bucknell's 6-1 win. Bucknell will return to the field with two non-conference contests. The Bison host Vermont at 7 p.m. Friday and Towson at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Colgate Colgate opened the season with a 2-1 loss to Monmouth Sunday. The Raiders will look for their first win when they host a pair of home games this weekend. Colgate will host Central Michigan at 7 p.m. Friday and Rider at noon Sunday. CMU leads the series 2-1, which includes a 7-1 victory last year in Mount Pleasant, Mich. Colgate leads the all-time series against Rider, 11-5, including winning the last three meetings by a combined score of 9-3.

Holy Cross The Crusaders will open their season on Thursday at UConn. They also will square off against Harvard at 1 p.m. Saturday and at Boston College at 3 p.m. Sunday. They are coming off a 7-11 season where they tied for third place, but wound up fifth in the standings after tie-breakers. Second-year head coach Alicia Hawk returns eight starters from 2008; however, the three-time Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year, Erin Singleton, and All-League first team forward Kristin Schulz both graduated. Junior forward Kara Gonnerman is the team's leading returning scorer with seven goals last season.

Lafayette The Leopards will open their season with two games at Longwood Saturday and Sunday. They will play the host, Longwood, at 11 a.m. Saturday, and face Radford at 1 p.m. Sunday. Lafayette, which finished second in the league last season with a 12-7 overall record and 4-1 in the League, returns eight starters. First-Team All-League junior defender Meghan Cicchi, senior forward Kelly Hilovsky and sophomore midfielder Carolyn Cabrey return for Lafayette. Hilovsky had seven goals and five assists last season. Junior keeper Kelsey Andersen led the League in 2008 with a 1.38 goals against average and was second with six shutouts.

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks opened the season with an 8-2 loss to Rider on Saturday. Lehigh will return to the field when it travels to West Chester for a 4 p.m. tilt on Wednesday. The Mountain Hawks also will travel to Bryant on Saturday for a 1 p.m. matchup. The Mountain Hawks are returning seven starters and 15 letterwinners on a team that has just three seniors. Junior midfielder/defender Taryn Hartzell leads the way after recording a League-best 10 defensive saves in 2008. For it, she earned a spot on the Second-Team All-League squad.