Game Chat: Vermont at Siena

Vermont On Gameday

Wrapping up a day with the Great Danes

The first day of the Tip-Off Take-Off gave AExtra an excellent opportunity for premium access to both the men's and women's basketball teams at Albany. With both games being extremely competitive and fun to watch, AExtra is hoping that the entire road trip can have such a high quality of basketball and excitement. 

On the women's side, the big story heading into the game was the debut of head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. While its impossible to make a firm evaluation from one game, its clear that the girls on the team have really responded to the energy and excitement that Abrahamson-Henderson has brought to this program. The defensive pressure and trapping clearly had Brown uncomfortable throughout the game and was key in helping the Great Danes open the season with the win. Both Ebone Henry and Julie Forster showed how dominant they can be in the paint, as Henry scored 23 points and grabbed 15 boards, while Forster scored 13 points and pulled down 16 boards. 

Although the men's team fell 65-61 to Cornell, there were a lot of positives to take from the game. Before sophomore guard Mike Black got hurt, the Great Danes were controlling the tempo and executing the offense very well. Senior guard Tim Ambrose did his best to keep the Great Danes in the game and get the SEFCU rocking, as he scored 20 points on 8-12 shooting. 

Even more impressive than the effort on the court was the great crowd at SEFCU arena. The entire student-section and crowd created a great atmosphere at the game that really boosted the energy for both Albany teams.

UMBC vs New Hampshire America East Championship Preview Video

The No. 2-seeded UMBC men's soccer team hosts the 2010 America East Championship against No. 5 New Hampshire for the chance to clinch an automatic NCAA berth. Come out to show your support at 1 pm Saturday, Nov. 13 at UMBC Soccer Stadium.

Highlights/Comments after Albany Victory

Here is some footage from the press conference featuring Coach Abrahamson-Henderson, Ebone Henry and Julie Forster. 

Albany vs Cornell In-Game Blog: Cornell wins 65-61

And we are back with a live in-game blog of the men's basketball game against Cornell:

15:45: Albany has got off to a strong start courtesy of Luke Devlin and Mike Black. The Great Danes lead 7-4 and have played with great intensity on both ends of the court.

11:32: Neither team has found much of an offensive rhythm, as Albany leads 10-6. There has been a good tempo to the game, with both teams really pushing the fastbreak, but transition defense has been especially strong by both teams.

Albany vs. Brown In-Game blog: Great Danes win 64-54

Live from SEFCU Arena:

15:27: Brown has the 7-5 lead over Albany. Both teams are playing excellent defense, with the Great Danes utilizing lots of different looks in their defense.

11:00: Brown has extended its lead to 10-5. Albany is having no problem getting good looks at the hoop, but just haven't been able to convert the open shots. However, a very aggressive defense has made life difficult for Brown on the offensive end, as the Great Danes are trapping and pressuring whenever possible.

Tip-Off Take-Off Begins

After a three hour drive from lovely Cambridge, Mass., AExtra has finally arrived in Albany for the opening day of the Tip-off Take-off. In about 75 minutes, the Albany Great Danes women's basketball team will kick off its season with a game against Brown.

Even before AExtra arrived in Albany, the Stony Brook women's basketball team kicked off the season with a dominant 77-60 victory over Troy. Junior forward Destiny Jacobs led the way for Stony Brook with 18 points and five boards.

AExtra will be providing an in-game blog throughout both Albany games as well as some pictures and videos at the conclusion of each. Even thought AExtra has only been in Albany for an hour, its safe to say taht all America East fans should check our Fiorello's Bakery when visiting. This writer is partial to the meatball sub, but also had his eye on the Eggplant Parmesan.

Three Wildcats to Watch In the America East Championship

The UNH men's soccer team will take on the UMBC Retrievers in the America East championship game at UMBC Stadium on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Wildcats were ranked fifth headed into the conference playoffs, and most people (myself included) did not expect them to advance as far as they have. Nonetheless, UNH has won by relying on senior goalkeeper Colin O'Donnell and their suffocating defense, as the Wildcats did not let up a goal in either of their playoff games leading up the championship.

If UNH wants to take home the championship, however, they will need a little help offensively to take some of the pressure off the defense. O'Donnell, the America East Goalkeeper of the Year, has been a stalwart in net, but UMBC boasts the top offense in the conference, scoring an average of two goals per game during the regular season. O'Donnell will be hard pressed to post another shutout against the Retrievers, especially if the Wildcats cannot put any pressure back on UMBC. With that said, here are three Wildcats that could end up providing some crucial offense for UNH:

1. Brad Hilton - The junior captain has led UNH to this point in the season and I don't expect that to change in the championship game. As a center midfielder, Hilton is often all over the field, but he is especially potent on the offensive side of the ball. Hilton's shot is dangerous from even 35-40 yards away from the net, so UMBC would be wise not to give him any clean looks on goal.

Stay Tuned for the Tip-Off Take-Off

With basketball season officially kicking off tomorrow, AExtra is going out on the road to provide fans with some in-depth coverage. Starting tomorrow at Albany, AExtra will be giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at the first week of basketball. There will be videos, pictures, articles and enjoying of some of the fine foods each city offers. We will also be having a couple of live in-game chats utilizing Cover It Live.



Here is the schedule for the upcoming trip:

November 12: 5 p.m.- Albany vs. Brown 

                        7:30 p.m.- Albany vs Cornell

November 13: 7 p.m.- Vermont at Siena (Cover It Live game)

November 14: 2 p.m.- Maine at Maryland (Cover It Live game)

                         3 p.m.- VMI at UMBC (Cover It Live game)

November 15: Travel Day....I'm sure everyone will miss us

November 16: 6 a.m.- Stony Brook at Monmouth

                         8 p.m.- Boston U. vs George Washington (Philadelphia, Pa.)

November 17: TBA- Boston U. vs. TBA (Philadelphia, Pa) (Potential Cover It Live)

                         7 p.m.- Binghamton at Bucknell  

November 18: Travel Day....Don't worry, we will be back

November 19: 7 p.m.- Hartford vs. Dartmouth

November 20: 2 p.m.- Hartford vs. Providence

November 20: 7 p.m.- UNH vs. Holy Cross

November 21: Day of rest and recuperation from this journey

Binghamton Tops East Stroudsburg in Exhibition

The Binghamton University men’s basketball team kicked off its season last night with an exhibition contest against East Stroudsburg in the Events Center. East Stroudsburg received an at-large bid into last season’s NCAA Division II tournament. A big run in the first half and a major height advantage by junior center Kyrie Sutton proved to be the difference as the Bearcats topped the Warriors 67-58 in front of 2,702 fans.

Sutton was the star for Binghamton on the night, as he nearly had a double-double before halftime, as he posted 12 points, nine rebounds and four blocks in the first half. He finished the game 9-11 from the field with 21 points, 19 rebounds and three assists. No player on the visiting team could compete with Sutton’s size, and he showed off a nice hook shot at several points throughout the game. He set the tone early on, scoring six of the Bearcats’ first eight points.

Wildcats Upend Terriers

An unwritten rule in sports is that coaches and players should not look past an opponent or to a game later on in the season; however, for fans this is a common occurrence. Prior to Wednesday’s America East semifinal contest against the University of New Hampshire, I was thinking whether or not Boston University will host an opening round game in the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats’ 1-0 victory in overtime now makes me even questions whether the Terriers will make the NCAA tournament.

“Hats off to New Hampshire, we didn’t break them down,” Boston University coach Neil Roberts said. “The battles of us trying to break them down on the flanks, they won. They possessed in the middle and got to a lot of second balls. I thought we did a better job in the second half at getting to the second balls, but we weren’t dangerous enough. We didn’t break them down, it’s that simple.”


Earlier in the season the Terriers suffered their lone conference defeat to UNH on the road. As a fan of the Terriers and an observer of America East soccer, I knew Wednesday’s contest would not be a walk in the park; however, I assumed home field advantage would be enough of an edge to propel the Terriers into the championship game. Dylan George’s overtime winner and the play of Colin O’Donnell, America East Goalie of the Year, proved me wrong.

As expected there was a lack of offense for most of the game, as UNH showed that a strong defense can defeat a good offesnse. The Terriers outshot the Wildcats 23-10 during the game, but only six of those shots were on goal. O’Donnell lived up to his credentials and made some nice saves early in the game to keep the game scoreless, but for the most part was not tested. The Terriers also had an advantage in corners, 14-6, but a strong UNH defense prevented any quality scoring opportunities to arise from them. In the second half UNH started to gain more possession of the ball and held the hosts to only one shot on goal.

“A lot of the shots that we had in the first half were not that dangerous, only a couple of them [were] dangerous. I think we had a lot of the possession, but we weren’t dangerous and that’s the way they play, that’s the challenge they give you. We do a short corner, but it wasn’t on there,” Roberts said. “I really wanted to drive it into the box more. We didn’t do that. They weren’t dangerous enough.”

It appeared the Wildcats had won the game in the 98th minute of overtime when a header by Dylan George beat Terriers goalie Brandon Briggs, but the line judge called George offsides. George who had taken his jersey off in celebration had to quickly run back on defense, while he struggled to put back on his jersey. The Wildcats would have the last laugh a minute later as Charlie Roche sent a beautiful thru-ball to George who once again beat Briggs, this time onsides.

The Terriers, who were ranked 32 in RPI, now have to hope for one of the at-large bids into the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats will travel to the University of Maryland Baltimore County for a shot at the America East Championship and an automatic spot in the NCAA tournament on Saturday at 1 pm.

“This [loss] obviously doesn’t help it,” Roberts said. “I think now it really comes down to how teams do. How many upsets there are in conferences? We were 32 [in the RPI ranking] coming into today, but the RPI for New Hampshire is pretty low, so if we drop ten spots then we are out.”

UMBC Defeats Stony Brook in Thrilling Game

By: Curtis Schickner

The America East semi-final match between the UMBC Retrievers and the Stony Brook Seawolves turned out to be quite the game Wednesday evening. Levi Houapeu stole the show with two highlight reel goals late in the first half.

The Seawolves jumped onto the board early with a miscue by the Retrievers on defense when a shot was blocked back into the middle of the box. Raphael Abreu found the back of an empty net to put Stony Brook up 1-0. The Retrievers seemed to be playing on their heels for most of the first half until Houapeu struck a rocket from 12 yards out into the upper right corner of the net.  Just minutes later, Houapeu received another long ball down the left side of the field; he took one cut towards the middle and struck the ball off the far right post and into the net.

The Retrievers looked to take a 2-1 lead into half when a late free kick gave UMBC one last opportunity to score. Andrew Bulls lofted a free kick into the box that was headed by Liam Paddock just under the crossbar to give the Retrievers a 3-1 lead with seconds left in the first half. The Seawolves played scrappy in the second half but couldn’t seem to find the back of the net. Their lone goal in the second stanza came when UMBC goalkeeper Dan Louisignau punched a rebound into his own net to open the half.

The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee gathered student-athletes from every team to support their fellow Retrievers at last night’s game. Free pizza was given out to all of the student-athletes as part of their initiative in getting more student support at athletic contests.

The Retrievers will host their first ever men’s soccer final at UMBC Soccer Stadium at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Vermont Names New Women's Soccer Coach

The University of Vermont named Kristi Lefebvre the women's soccer head coach following the resignation of Kwame Lloyd (click here for full release). Lefebvre spent the past three seasons working at UVM as an assistant coach. Prior to working on the staff at Vermont, Lefebvre had a tremendous playing career at Connecticut. She helped lead the Huskies to three Big East Regular Season titles and two tournament championships during her four year career. Here are some key quotes from the press release:

Kristi Lefebvre: "I would like to thank Dr. Bob Corran and Jeff Schulmann for their confidence in me to step into the head coaching position. As a Vermont native, I could not ask for a more exciting opportunity than to lead the women's soccer program at the school I grew up proudly supporting."

Vermont Director of Athletics Dr. Robert Corran: "Kristi has very strong technical and interpersonal skills, tremendous credibility within the state and across the women's soccer community, and a passion for the game, each of which are keys to moving the program forward. She and our women's soccer program each have a very bright future and we look forward with much optimism as she steps into her new role."

Wildcats Fall to Bentley In Exhibition

The UNH women's basketball team fell to Bentley, 78-51, in the Wildcats' only exhibition game of the preseason Monday night. Bentley went on a 10-0 run to start the game and UNH never recovered, playing catch-up the entire game.

Midway through the first half, Bentley had extended their lead to 25-9, before UNH was able to regroup and cut the deficit to a more manageable 41-27 score at halftime.

Through the first five minutes of the second half, UNH would go on a run, bringing the lead down to double-digits with a 43-34 lead at the 14:52 mark of the half. But that was as close as the Wildcats would come for the rest of the game, as Bentley would gradually extend their lead for the rest of the game, culminating in their 27 point victory.

Kelsey Hogan led the way for the Wildcats with 11 points, also chipping in 3 rebounds and 2 assists. If there is one positive that UNH can draw from their game, it is that Hogan appears fully healthy after missing all of last season with after tearing her ACL twice in her first two seasons at UNH. Hogan is technically a redshirt freshman and could be a huge spark for the Wildcats if she can remain healthy.

UNH will begin their regular season on the road this Friday when the travel to South Bend, Indiana to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at 4 p.m.

Stony Brook Men's Basketball Joins Forces with McDonald's

The Stony Brook men's basketball team will be joining forces with local McDonald's Owners to host a fundraiser benefiting the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island (click here for full release). This tremendous event will see 15% of all sales on November 9 from 5-7 p.m. go directly to the Ronald McDonald House.

AExtra would like to applaud the entire men's basketball team and head coach Steve Pikiell, who will help serve food and meet local members of the community at the 2324 Nenconset Highway location, for helping out with this great event.

UMBC Men's Soccer vs. Stony Brook America East Semifinal Preview

The No. 2-seeded UMBC men's soccer team hosts an America East semifinal contest against No. 3 Stony Brook for the chance to advance to its second straight conference title game. Come out to show your support Wednesday, November 10 at UMBC Stadium, or watch live-streaming at UMBCRetrievers.TV

Blogger Polls

Men's Polls
1. Boston

2, Maine

3. Stony Brook

4. New Hampshire

5. Vermont

6. Binghamton

7. Hartford

8. Albany

9. UMBC

With the level of talent it is returning, Boston is undoubtedly the preseason favorite. Senior John Holland and junior Jake O’Brien return after fantastic 2009-10 campaigns and have both been named preseason All-Conference members. Holland, All-Conference first team player for the past two seasons, led the America East in scoring last year. He is one of, if not the best scorer in the conference and will certainly compete for another scoring title. The 6’8” O’Brian is a force on the boards and on the defensive end, providing the Terriers with great balance.

Hitting the Links: 11/8/2010

Good Afternoon AExtra!

The fall championship season has hit its stride in America East. Already, four America East titles have been awarded, including two over the weekend. While several sports have already been decided, two other sports still have yet to crown a champion. In the coming weeks, the conference champion trophies will all be handed out, with the media from all over the conference footprint following along the way.

Let's take a closer look.

On Saturday, two women's sports, soccer and field hockey, completed their conference tournaments. In Boston, the top-seeded Boston University Terrier women hosted the No. 6 Maine Black Bears in the women's soccer finale. Boston U. downed Maine, 4-0, continuing its stunning shutout streak, which now sits at 13 games. The Terriers went through the entire America East schedule, including two matches in the conference tournament, without surrendering a single goal.

The win for the Terriers does not diminish the accomplishments of the Black Bears. Maine fought not only to get into the conference tournament, but also to get to the championship game, becoming the first No. 6 seed to do so in conference tournament history.

That game was covered from all angles, both in Boston (articles in the Boston U. Daily Free Press and New England Soccer News) and in Maine (articles in the Bangor Daily News and the Maine Campus).

In Durham, N.H., the University of New Hampshire hosted the 2010 America East field hockey championship. In the semifinals on Friday, the host Wildcats topped No. 4 Maine, 3-2 (you can read more about that game in the Maine Campus' article "UMaine field hockey suffers season-ending loss to UNH"), while No. 2 Albany beat No. 3 Boston U., 2-1, in a battle of nationally ranked teams (this game was covered further by the Daily Free Press in "Field hockey season ends in AE semis").

In Saturday's championship game, Albany upset the top-seeded Wildcats in overtime, 3-2. The Great Danes scored with 2:53 remaining in regulation to force the extra period, then took the crown with a goal from freshman Daphne Voormolen in the first overtime. The championship for the Great Danes was picked up by the Troy Record, while the loss for the Wildcats was covered in The New Hampshire. The game was also covered in depth by AmericaEast.com. Albany will play Rider tomorrow for a spot in the NCAA tournament.



Meanwhile, men's soccer is in the midst of its conference tournament. The media has this tournament covered, posting stories of Saturday's action. Big Apple Soccer has the No. 3 Stony Brook Seawolves "Semifinal Bound" after they beat the No. 6 Vermont Catamounts, 2-0 at home, while the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin summed up No. 4 Binghamton's loss to No. 5 New Hampshire in just a few words: "Binghamton U. beaten on an own goal."

The weekend didn't bring all bad news to the Bearcats. The Binghamton volleyball team, as reported in the Press & Sun Bulletin, locked up a spot in the America East tournament with a win at New Hampshire on Sunday. The participants are now set for that tournament, which will begin November 19. Albany, Binghamton, UMBC and Stony Brook will battle for the league crown. All that is left to determine is the seeding and the site. The tournament will be hosted November 19-20 by the top seed in the tournament.

Hopefully you are enjoying the hectic championship schedule as much as we are. Don't forget to check in with AExtra for the latest on all that is America East.

Terrific Terriers: Boston University Women's Soccer Claims 4th Straight Conference Title

Saturday afternoon’s game was one to remember in multiple ways for Terrier fans, players, and coaches. The Boston University women’s soccer team defeated the University of Maine 4-0 at Nickerson Field to claim their fourth straight America East championship.

“I think for the seniors this was a huge game,” junior Jessica Luscinski said. “To win four in a row that just shows complete dominance over the time they’ve been here. I think this game just showed a real team win, from our defense once again not letting up a goal to our attack getting so many opportunities and so many goals from different players. It was a great team win.”

Saturday’s victory gave the Terriers (16-5) an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. The selection show is set for 4:30 on Monday on ESPNU. There were many things on the line for the Terriers as they got set to play the six seeded Black Bears, who upset Hartford and Stony Brook to make the championship game.

In addition to claiming their fourth straight conference championship, an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament, the Terriers improved their shutout streak to 13 games. Boston University has not given up a goal in 1,187:02 minutes. The Terriers’ 13-game shutout streak is tied for the second longest in NCAA history with North Carolina and Central Michigan.

Stony Brook Advances to Semifinals

By Raimundo Ortiz

The Stony Brook men’s soccer team took care of business in their quarterfinal match on Saturday, knocking off the No. 6-seeded Vermont Catamounts by the score of 2-0. Star midfielder Leonardo Fernandes suffered a cut above his eye in the first half, and left the game. He returned in the second half but did not factor too much in the outcome.

Forwards Raphael Abreu and Berian Gobeil picked up the slack for Fernandes, combing for eight shots and both Seawolves goals.

The first goal, by Abreu, came off a mistake by Vermont goalie, David Ramada. A long shot bounced off two Vermont defenders and towards Ramada, who kicked the ball softly towards Abreu. He reacted quickly and managed a weak shot off the side of his foot that was enough to squeak by Ramada.
This would be the only goal for a while, but the Seawolves controlled the pace of the game.

Binghamton Eliminated by UNH After Own Goal

After playing host to and defeating New Hampshire just last Saturday, the Binghamton University men’s soccer team hosted the Wildcats once again last night. This time the stakes were higher, as they battled in an America East quarterfinal match. The No. 4 seeded Bearcats were not as fortunate as they were a week ago, and for the second straight season, they dropped a home match in the quarterfinals. No. 5 New Hampshire won 1-0 as a result of a Binghamton own goal.

The loss brings back memories of the way Binghamton’s season ended in 2009. Binghamton defeated UMBC 4-0 at home in the final regular season conference match, and hosted UMBC just a week later in the quarterfinals. That quarterfinal was defined by a standout moment as well; Liam Carson was given a straight red card for allegedly spitting on an opposing player. With the game tied 1-1, UMBC took advantage and ended up winning 2-1. This year, a blunder by senior back Kyle Manscuk made the difference in the match.