Sept. 2, 2008

American was awarded with all four Patriot League Field Hockey weekly awards after opening the 2008 season 2-0, including a win over No. 19 Albany. The following student-athletes were honored: Emily Stovicek (Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week), Ann Van Erp (Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week), Alyssa Poorman (Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week) and Natalie Ellenberger (Patriot League Rookie of the Week).

Patriot League Field Hockey Release - 9.2.08

Offensive Player of the Week
Emily Stovicek, American
Jr., M/F, Montgomery Village, Md.
Stovicek totaled five points as American opened the 2008 season 2-0 with wins over No. 19 Albany and New Hampshire. The junior Eagle tallied her first collegiate points last weekend with three against New Hampshire (1 goal, 1 assist) and added a goal in the 2-0 victory over the nationally-ranked Great Danes.

Defensive Player of the Week
Ann Van Erp, American
So., D, Hilversum, Netherlands
Van Erp was a key member of the Eagles defense that posted two shutouts in the opening weekend of play. The Eagles earned a 4-0 victory over New Hampshire and a 2-0 victory over No. 19 Albany. She also added an assist in the win over New Hampshire.

Goalkeeper of the Week
Alyssa Poorman, American
Sr., Doylestown, Pa.
Poorman collected two shutout wins to start off the 2008 campaign. The senior goalie was perfect against both New Hampshire and No. 19 Albany. She totaled 10 saves on the week, including seven versus the nationally-ranked Great Danes.

Rookie of the Week
Natalie Ellenberger, American
Fr., M, Gaithersburg, Md.
Ellenberger scored her first collegiate goal in her first game of the season with a tally in American's win over New Hampshire.

Honorable Mention

Morgan Kauffman, Bucknell
So., M, Millersville, Pa.
Recorded three assists in Bucknell's 4-1 win over Longwood.

Rebecca Anderson, Colgate
So., F/M, Louisville, Ky.
Scored two goals in a win over Siena...The goals were the first two in her career.

Sarah Pedersen, Colgate
Jr., GK, State College, Pa.
Played 63:14 minutes in a win over Siena...Did not allow a single goal...Posted a perfect save percentage with three stops.

Maggie Condon, Lafayette
Sr., M, Lake Bluff, Ill.
Tallied four points in a win over La Salle...Scored one goal and had two assists.

Patriot League Notebook

Opening Weekend
Patriot League teams posted a 5-3 record in the first weekend of play for the 2008 season. American went 2-0 at its own invitational, defeating No. 19 Albany and New Hampshire. Colgate and Lafayette each started out the year 1-0, while Bucknell posted a 1-1 weekend.

Eagles Ranked
American entered the 2008 campaign with a No. 15 preseason ranking in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) poll. The Eagles closed out last year ranked 14th in the NFHCA poll with a 16-5 overall record.

Coaching Debuts
Both Bucknell's Jeremy Cook and Holy Cross' Ali Hawk made their head coaching debuts this past weekend. Unfortunately each opened with a loss, but Cook led the Bison to a victory in its second game of the year with a 4-1 win over Longwood.

2008 Patriot League Championship
The 2008 Patriot League Field Hockey Championship will be held Friday-Saturday, Nov. 7-8 at the site of the highest seed. Two semifinal games will take place on Friday, Nov. 7 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. 8.

Team Notebooks

American American started off the year 2-0 with wins over No. 19 Albany and New Hampshire as the Eagles hosted their own invitational over the weekend. Junior Emily Stovicek tallied her first two collegiate goals and first-ever assist over the weekend. Senior Irene Schickhardt recorded three points against New Hampshire with a goal and an assist. Senior Alyssa Poorman tallied both shutout wins in goal for the Eagles. In the victory over the nationally-ranked Great Danes, Poorman came up with seven saves and added three against New Hampshire.

Bucknell Bucknell went 1-1 during the opening weekend of the 2008 campaign. The Bison earned a 4-1 victory over Longwood on Sunday. Four different Bison scored in the winning effort, while sophomore Morgan Kauffman assisted on three of the four goals. Kauffman's three points versus Longwood mark a career high. Bucknell dropped a 2-0 game to Villanova on Saturday. For the week, junior goalie Jessie Atieh made nine saves, including eight against the Wildcats. Freshman Sarah Zargarpour made her collegiate debut in the second half of the Longwood match, collecting two saves.

Colgate Sophomore Rebecca Anderson scored a pair of goals to lead Colgate to a season-opening 5-1 victory over Siena. The Raiders remain undefeated in the all-time series against Siena (8-0). Junior Sarah Pedersen played 63:14 minutes in net, not allowing a single goal and posting a perfect save percentage. Senior Lauren Carey scored her 23rd career goal on Saturday and is now 10th all-time in Colgate history. Senior Maddie Watrobski enters the week with 18 career assists, which is tied for third all time at Colgate.

Holy Cross Holy Cross fell to Fairfield, 3-0, to open the 2008 slate on Saturday. Senior Erin Singleton had eight stops in the cage for Holy Cross. Holy Cross returns to action on Friday when it travels to Harvard.

Lafayette Lafayette earned a 4-1 victory at home over La Salle on Sunday to open the season. This was the first season-opening victory for the Leopards since the 2005 campaign when Lafayette defeated Temple, 2-1, in Philadelphia. Junior Bridget Hilbig netted two goals in the win and tied with senior Maggie Condon for the team lead of four points as Condon scored a goal and recorded two assists. Sophomore Kelsey Anderson notched the win in the cage for the Leopards, making two saves.

Lehigh Lehigh dropped its season opener, 5-0, at Temple on Saturday. Sophomore Jessica Miller was credited with six saves for the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh will be back on the turf Wednesday night when it welcomes West Chester to the Ulrich Sports Complex for the 2008 home opener.