Sept. 22, 2008

Holy Cross' Courtney Callahan was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week and Lafayette's Meghan Cicchi earned the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week award. American took home the two remaining Patriot League field hockey weekly awards with Alyssa Poorman (Goalkeeper of the Week) and Tatum Dyer (Rookie of the Week) being honored.

Patriot League Field Hockey Release - 9.22.08

Offensive Player of the Week
Courtney Callahan, Holy Cross
Jr., M/B, Acton, Mass.
Callahan tallied five points in a 1-1 week for the Crusaders. In a 3-1 win over Siena, Callahan put the Crusaders up 2-1 in the second half and two minutes later added an insurance goal. The junior from Acton, Mass., had an assist in the 4-3 overtime loss to New Hampshire. This is Callahan's first-career Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week award.

Defensive Player of the Week
Meghan Cicchi, Lafayette
Sr., M, Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Cicchi, the 2007 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, was a key member of the Lafayette defense that posted its first shutout of the season with a 2-0 win over Penn and held Drexel to below its season scoring average in a 2-1 loss. The defense held Penn to just one shot on goal. This is the third-career Patriot League weekly award for Cicchi as she took home Defensive Player and Rookie of the Week honors once each last year.

Goalkeeper of the Week
Alyssa Poorman, American
Jr., Doylestown, Pa.
Poorman owned a .826 save percentage against a pair of top-10 teams this week, allowing just one goal to No. 2 Maryland and two to No. 7 James Madison. Against the Terps, Poorman faced 11 shots on goal and made nine stops for an .818 save percentage. She posted an .833 save percentage against James Madison, turning away five of six shots faced. Maryland was held below its season scoring average of 4.62, as was James Madison, which averages 2.0 goals per contest.

Rookie of the Week
Tatum Dyer, American
Fr., D, Windham, N.H.
Dyer was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week for the second-consecutive time after providing strong defense versus two nationally-ranked teams. The Eagles held both No. 2 Maryland and No. 7 James Madison to under their season scoring averages.

Honorable Mention

Jessie Atieh, Bucknell
Jr., GK, North Caldwell, N.J.
Made 18 saves in a 1-1 week for Bucknell...Tied a career high with 10 stops in a win over La Salle...Posted a .783 save percentage.

Maggie Condon, Lafayette
Sr., M, Lake Bluff, Ill.
Scored a goal and had an assist in a 2-0 win over Penn...Added another goal against Drexel.

Patriot League Notebook

Top Performers
Six Patriot League student-athletes have already accumulated double-digit points this season. Leading the pack is Bucknell's Amanda Faust with 14 points on a balanced scoring effort of five goals and four assists. Lehigh's Kelly Fox paces the League with six goals, while Bucknell's Morgan Kauffman is tops in assists with six.

Quotable
"For periods during the second half, the intensity was better. It's the first shutout of the season, which is good. Our defense has the ability to hang tough under pressure." - Lafayette Head Coach Andrew Griffiths after a 2-0 win over Penn

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 dropped a pair of one-goal games to nationally ranked opponents with a 2-1 loss to No. 2 Maryland and a 1-0 loss to No. 7 James Madison. Sophomore Christine Fingerhuth scored for the Eagles against Maryland. The Eagles defense held both teams to below their season scoring average. Junior goalie Alyssa Poorman owned an .826 save percentage and gave up just three goals to two top-10 squads. She made 14 saves over the two games.

Bucknell Senior Amanda Faust tallied two goals in Bucknell's 3-1 victory over La Salle on Friday. Faust moved into a tie for ninth place on Bucknell's career goals list now with 23. The Bison fell to Lock Haven on Sunday. Junior goalkeeper Jessie Atieh tied a career-high with 10 saves against La Salle and made eight versus Lock Haven. Atieh posted a .783 save percentage for the week, including a .909 mark in the win over the Explorers.

Colgate Colgate split its games last week with a 3-0 win over St. Francis (Pa.) and a loss to Lock Haven. Colgate improved to 6-0 all-time against St. Francis with a 3-0 victory over the Red Flash. Junior Sarah Pedersen turned aside 14 shots in a loss to Lock Haven. The saves total tied her career high which was set earlier at Syracuse. With her goal against St. Francis (Pa.), senior Lauren Carey moved into a tie for fifth on Colgate's all-time point list (61) and tied for eighth in career goals (25). Senior defender Laura Flisnik recorded three assists last week, including two against St. Francis (Pa.).

Holy Cross Holy Cross notched its second win of the season on Sunday with a 3-1 victory over Siena. Junior Courtney Callahan scored two of the three goals in the win, with senior Kristin Schulz providing the other. On Wednesday, the Crusaders dropped a 4-3 overtime contest to New Hampshire. Senior Erin Singleton made 10 saves last week, including eight versus New Hampshire.

Lafayette Lafayette went 1-1 last week, notching its first shutout win of the season with a 2-0 victory over Penn and then dropping a 2-1 game to Drexel. The loss to Drexel snapped a five-home game winning streak for the Leopards extending back to last season. Senior Maggie Condon collected five points with a goal and an assist against Penn and another goal versus Drexel. Sophomore Kelsey Anderson recorded the shutout in goal for the fourth of her career.

Lehigh Lehigh started off the week with a 3-0 victory over St. Francis (Pa.) and then fell to Rider, 3-1. Junior Lindsay Smith started off the scoring in the shutout win over the Red Flash. Freshmen Caitlin Donnelly and Madison Ingal added the last two goals in the final three minutes. Junior Kelly Fox scored Lehigh's lone goal against Rider.