Sept. 14, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. -- Savannah Graybill, Anne-Meike De Wiljes and Alyssa Poorman all led American to a 2-0 week, including a win over No. 13 Penn State, and all three earned weekly awards from the Patriot League.

Lehigh's Kim Eng did, too, winning the Rookie of the Week award.

Graybill was named the Offensive Player of the Week, while De Wiljes was named the Defensive Player of the Week. Poorman earned the Goalkeeper of the Week award for the second time this season.

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Offensive Player of the Week (9.7.09-9.14.09)

Savannah Graybill, American, Sr., F, Ephrata, Pa./Cocalico Graybill led the Eagles to two wins over the weekend, including a 3-1 defeat of No. 13 Penn State where she scored a goal and an assist. Overall, she had two goals and an assist in two games. Graybill is tied for the League-lead in points with 10 (four goals, two assists). She now has 32 career goals and 72 career points. She is the second American forward to have been named the Offensive Player of the Week in 2009.

Defensive Player of the Week (9.7.09-9.14.09)

Anne-Meike De Wiljes, American, Sr., D, Hannover Germany De Wiljes, the reigning League Defensive Player of the Year, helped the Eagles shut down No. 13 Penn State, limiting the Nittany Lions to one goal. She and the Eagles defense did the same in an 8-1 win over Towson. De Wiljes also made an impact on the offensive end of the field, scoring two goals and two assists.

Goalkeeper of the Week (9.7.09-9.14.09)

Alyssa Poorman, American, Sr., GK, Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks South Poorman limited both of American's opponents to one goal apiece over the weekend. In the upset of No. 13 Penn State, Poorman made seven saves for a .778 save percentage. The only goal she allowed to Penn State came off of a penalty stroke. Poorman, a Second-Team All-League Goaltender in 2008, has won the weekly award twice in 2009.

Rookie of the Week (9.7.09-9.14.09)

Kim Eng, Lehigh, Fr., F, Morristown, N.J./Madison Eng led the Mountain Hawks to a 3-2 win over Georgetown, scoring two goals and assisting on another. Eng's assist helped tie the game at 1-1 and she then scored back-to-back goals in the second half, including the eventual game-winner. She now leads the team with four goals and nine points.

Honorable Mention Performances Last Week

Morgan Kauffman, Bucknell Jr., MF, Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor Kauffman scored a goal and had an assist to extend her point streak to five games.

Christine Weiss, Bucknell Jr., D, Bethlehem, Pa./Southern Lehigh Weiss scored two goals and had an assist in Bucknell's 4-3 win over Columbia.

Kelsey Andersen, Lafayette Jr., GK, West Long Branch, N.J./Shore Regional Andersen allowed one goal in two games, while recording a 2-0 shutout against Georgetown. She made four saves on the week, going 1-1 in the cage.

Kelly Hilovsky, Lafayette Sr., F, Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone Hilovsky led the Leopards in their 2-0 win over Georgetown with two goals.

Lindsey Smith, Lehigh Sr., MF, Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West Smith had a goal and two assists in Lehigh's 3-2 win over Georgetown.

Patriot League Notebook

New Face Shines in New Place

Lehigh opened its new field with a 3-2 win over Georgetown with freshman Kimberly Eng scoring two goals -- including the game-winner. The freshman, who also had an assist on the first Lehigh goal scored at the new Ulrich Field, leads the team with four goals and nine points this season.

Scoring Morgan

Bucknell's Morgan Kauffman hasn't lost a beat from her Second-Team All-Patriot League performance in 2008. The junior midfielder, who was second on the team with 27 points in 2008, is in the lead in 2009 with 10 points. She has three goals and four assists for the Bison, who are off to a 4-2 start. With her assist last week, she ranks fifth for career assists at Bucknell with 19. Kauffman is averaging 1.7 points per game and has had a point in each of the last five Bucknell contests.

All-American Upset

The Eagles, a week after dropping out of the nation's top 20, picked up a 3-1 win over No. 13 Penn State. With that win and American's 8-1 win over Towson, several players have moved up on the school's career record list. Savannah Graybill has moved into 14th place in career points at American with 73. She needs five more points this season to enter the top 10. Christine Fingerhuth is 16th in school history with 62 points. Graybill has tied Jhoanna Savino for 10th place in career goals at American with 32. De Wiljes has moved into 10th place in career assists at American with 25.

Leopards Limiting Opposition

Lafayette leads the League in goals against average with a 0.87 -- and the cushion between No. 1 and No. 2 is very cozy. Bucknell is the second with a 2.27 and American is third at 2.57. Lafayette has allowed just three goals in four games. Goalkeeper Kelsey Andersen, selected as a Goalkeeper of the Week once this season, has a 0.50 GAA in four games. She's recorded the League's only two shutouts in 2009.

Keep Track of the Patriot League Through Social Media

In addition to visiting www.patriotleague.org, League fans and followers have plenty of new ways to stay updated and involved during the 2009 season and beyond. The Patriot League has accounts on Facebook and Twitter, and has now started a blog to give more information on the action on the field. All three accounts are accessible through the multimedia link at the right-hand sidebar on the front page of www.patriotleague.org.

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 picked up two wins over the weekend to climb over the .500 mark on the 2009 season. American defeated Towson 8-1 on Saturday and No. 13 Penn State 3-1 on Sunday. Anne-Meike De Wiljes led the Eagles in both games with two goals and two assists. Savannah Graybill also had two goals and an assist. Goalkeeper Alyssa Poorman recorded seven saves against Penn State. American will host California at 3 p.m. on Friday and travel to James Madison for a 1 p.m. contest Sunday.

Bucknell The Bison split a pair of contests that needed more than 70 minutes to decide. Bucknell won 4-3 in a stroke-off at Columbia on Saturday. The Bison had their four-game winning streak snapped with a 4-3 loss in overtime at Sacred Heart Sunday. Morgan Kauffman had a goal and an assist in the two games, while teammate Christine Weiss tallied two goals and an assist. The Bison will host La Salle at 4 p.m. on Friday and travel to Villanova at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Colgate The Raiders lost two contests on the road in Orono, Maine, as Yale won 1-0 on Saturday and Maine won 7-1 on Tuesday. Freshman Britany Schram scored Colgate's only goal in the two losses. Colgate will return home to play two games this week. The Raiders will host Lock Haven at 4 p.m. on Friday and St. Francis (Pa.) at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Holy Cross The Crusaders fell to 0-4 after a 5-0 loss to Dartmouth in Worcester, Mass., on Sunday. Holy Cross will host Siena at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday and travel to New Hampshire on Saturday.

Lafayette The Leopards improved to 3-1 with a 1-1 record last week. Lafayette lost 1-0 to Temple on Friday and won 2-0 over Georgetown on Sunday. Kelly Hilovsky had two goals and goalkeeper Kelsey Andersen picked up the shutout against Georgetown. The Leopards will play four home games this week, including two games in the Lafayette College Invitational. They will host No. 13 Penn State at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Pacific at 7 p.m. Thursday. Lafayette and Pacific will match up again at 11 a.m. Sunday. Lafayette and Quinnipiac will play at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks picked up their first win of the year, defeating Georgetown 3-2 on Saturday. Kimberly Eng had two second-half goals, including the eventual game-winner. She also had an assist. Lindsey Smith, who assisted Eng on both of her goals, tied the game at 1-1 for Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks will return to the field with two contests this week, traveling to St. Francis (Pa.) at 4 p.m. Wednesday and hosting Cornell at 1 p.m. Sunday.