The Friday Fives

Hard to believe another week has come and gone. The Friday Fives are here to take you into the weekend. Here we go...

Plays of the Week

Games to Watch

WSOC: New Hampshire visits Maine on Sunday hoping to maintain its third place standing. The Black Bears are just one spot behind the Wildcats.

MSOC: The game of the weekend is Vermont at Binghamton on Saturday. The Catamounts need a win to keep sole possession of first place.

FH: Albany at Fairfield tonight is a huge matchup for both teams. Both have had great seasons, but haven't been able to get a win in conference so far. You can bet the players will be amped up for this one.

VB: New Hampshire at Albany isn't the only big match of the weekend. Stony Brook visits Binghamton just one spot behind the Bearcats in fourth place. Playoff implications already.

XC: As we mentioned yesterday, Albany, Boston U., Maine and New Hampshire are all running at the Pre-National meet in Louisville, Ky. Just two weeks until the America East Championship, folks.

The Numbers Game

30: Boston U. extended its America East women's soccer winning streak to 30 with a win over Hartford last night. The Terriers also moved into first place.

9: Milo Kapor's assist total this season is second in the country. He is just one assist behind the NCAA 

leader.

63: Boston U. men's soccer has racked up a tons of shots in conference play. Through three games, the Terriers have taken 19 more shots than any other team.

9.27: Stephanie Zygmunt has been a bright spot for Vermont field hockey, ranking second in the nation in saves per game.

13-12: This is the edge that Albany has over New Hampshire in the all-time volleyball series. The last time New Hampshire won at Albany was 2007. Big matchup tonight.

Lights, Camera, Action

The latest episode of Stony Brook's Get Your Red On Minute is out.

Check out the top plays from Binghamton during the month of September.

Boston U. posted a video recap of the women's soccer trip to California. 

Amelia Pereira was once again the Hartford Mooyah Player of the Week.

In case you missed it, check out the our video from last weekends Catamount Classic.

Social Media Central -- 5 Ways to Connect

1) It's #FanFriday, so make sure to tell us which games you're going to this weekend using our hashtags: #AEMSOC, #AEWSOC, #AEFH, #AEVB, #AEXC and as always, #AmericaEast

2) Our Twitter account will be sharing your best photos throughout the day. Here's one we've already shared!

3) If you need a primer on the weekend action, check out the AExtra post from yesterday.

4) You can look for scores and links to stats and recaps throughout the weekend on our Twitter (@AmericaEast) and Facebook (fb.com/americaeast) pages!

5) When Monday rolls around, we'll get you caught up on anything you may have missed over the weekend with the Monday Rewind. We'll have a picture of the week, a full recap on AExtra and a Social Media Recap on AmericaEast.com. Post about the America East and you might get mentioned!

Weekend Preview: The Playoff Push

Can Coach Natale lead Hartford to an America East
championship in women's soccer?

Believe it or not, it's getting to be that time again. Fall sports regular seasons are winding down and the playoffs are fast approaching. Women's soccer has just two weeks left, while men's soccer and field hockey come to an end the week after that. Cross country will hold its championship October 27th, as well. It's a busy time at the America East, and it's only going to get busier. Let's take a look at the upcoming weekend and see what playoff implications are at stake.

Women's Soccer

UMBC at Vermont, Thursday 3 p.m.
Boston U. at Hartford, Thursday 7 p.m.
Maine at Stony Brook, Thursday 7 p.m.
New Hampshire at Albany, Thursday 7:30 p.m.
Boston U. at Binghamton, Sunday 1 p.m.
New Hampshire at Maine, Sunday 1 p.m.
Stony Brook at UMBC, Sunday 1 p.m.
Vermont at Albany, Sunday 2 p.m.

The Playoff Picture

Hartford and Boston U. are well ahead of the pack, both having notched 5-0 marks in conference play so far. With Boston U. ineligible for the America East championship, it appears that Hartford should lock up the No. 1 seed. The battle for the No. 2 seed is shaping up to be an interesting one, with New Hampshire and Maine tied at seven points a piece and Albany just behind with six points. New Hampshire will have a chance to get a little breathing room this weekend, as it has matchups with both Maine and Albany. Fighting for the final two spots are Stony Brook and Vermont, both of which have notched three points. UMBC has a chance to gain ground on the sixth spot with its matchup against Vermont today at 3:00 p.m.

The Big Game

When Boston U. travels to Hartford tonight, both squads will be putting six game winning streaks on the line in addition to a perfect conference record. Amelia Pereira has been on fire for the Hawks, but Madison Clemens has been coming up huge for the Terriers as well (we took a look at this on the blog yesterday). Don't miss this one, folks.

Men's Soccer

Boston U. at UMBC, Saturday 3 p.m.
Stony Brook at Hartford, Saturday 7:00 p.m.
Vermont at Binghamton, Saturday 7:00 p.m.
Albany at New Hampshire, Sunday 2:00 p.m.

The Playoff Picture

A three-way tie for first includes a few minor surprises in Vermont and Binghamton, after the teams were predicted to finish fifth and sixth respectively in the preseason poll. The other first place team is a surprise to no one, as Stony Brook continues its push for a repeat championship. Albany, UMBC and Hartford are all fighting for the last two playoff spots, with the Great Danes enjoying the upper hand so far. If the Hawks or the Retrievers can get a win at home this weekend, it may clarify the playoff picture a little further.

The Big Game

We talked about these two teams just a second ago, but how about the seasons from Vermont and Binghamton to date? D.J. Edler, Joe Losier and Conor Leland have all made huge contributions for the Catamounts while Jake Keegan has been a monster for the Bearcats. These two teams will do battle for a shot at sole possession of first place in the conference tonight at 7 p.m.

Field Hockey

Albany at Fairfield, Friday 3 p.m.
Vermont at New Hampshire, Friday 3 p.m.
Maine at Boston U., Friday 6:30 p.m.
Boston U. at Hofstra, Sunday 1 p.m.
Georgetown at Fairfield, Sunday 1 p.m.
Yale at Vermont, Sunday 2 p.m.
Lehigh at Albany, Sunday 2 p.m.
Maine at Northeastern, Sunday 2 p.m.
New Hampshire at Boston College, Sunday 3 p.m.

The Playoff Picture

Through the first two weeks of conference play, Boston U, Maine and New Hampshire are all 2-0 in the America East. With four playoff spots available, this means that Albany, Fairfield and Vermont (all winless in conference play) have playoff hopes that are very much alive. Albany and Fairfield square off this weekend with a chance to gain some separation, while Vermont has a tough road matchup against New Hampshire.

The Big Game

There are a few great non-conference games this weekend, but we'll stay in the America East for our big game. Maine and Boston U. both played very challenging early season schedules and are now getting on a roll in the conference. Boston U. needs to win as many games as possible to secure an at-large bid, while Maine is hoping for a leg up on New Hampshire for the top spot come conference tournament time. An interesting factor in this game, Boston U. is just 1-3 at home so far.

• Volleyball has a full slate of games this weekend, including a matchup of the conference's top two teams, New Hampshire and Albany. The Wildcats have won seven straight matches, but can they knock off the Great Danes, who have been nearly perfect in America East play over the past two seasons?
• Four America East schools are running in this weekend's Pre-National meet in Louisville, Ky. -- Albany, Boston U., Maine and New Hampshire. 

Linked Up

UMBC men's basketball will have a new head coach this season.

New Hampshire announced the hiring of a men's basketball assistant coach.

Stony Brook is extending its "Seawolves County" initiative.

Hartford will honor eight women's soccer seniors before its matchup with Boston U.

Fans of Vermont basketball and hockey will have a chance to travel with the team this season.

Daily Word: Most Valuable Goals -- WSOC Edition

Madison Clemens has scored in big spots this season.

We did this yesterday for the men and saw some really interesting results. Now, having a night to think about it before crunching the numbers for women's soccer, some flaws in the system are becoming easy to see. For one, does there need to be some sort of weight applied to the number of goals? Two, how do you credit multi-goal games where the player scored neither a game winning goal, nor in a draw or a game won by a single tally? Finally, how do you appropriately weigh winning percentage when one player has scored in more games than another? This final question is tough because if multiple players are tied with the same winning percentage, they may not have influenced the same amount of games and the number shouldn't be treated as equal. It's not perfect, but we decided that games influenced would be the tiebreaker in this scenario, with the player who scored in more games getting more points in our made up equation.

Again, this whole theory is far from perfect. But raw numbers (goals, assists, game winning goals) only tell us so much. By digging a little further, we might uncover something about a player that wasn't obvious just from looking at the stats. Or, we might find out that this whole idea is bogus and it tells us nothing. But like we said yesterday: it's fun to look at if nothing else.

As a refresher if you didn't check out the rankings yesterday, there are four categories the players will receive a ranking for: goals, team winning percentage in games when a player has scored, game winning goals and goals scored in games that were either draws or won by a single score. Each player will be ranked one through 10 in each category, receiving a corresponding point value for their standing (ex. 10 points for first place, nine points for second and etc). To narrow the list down to 10 players, we used total points as the first tiebreaker and then team standing in the America East as the final tie break. Now, let's get into it...

Goals

• Amelia Pereira (12) -- 10 pts
• Shayla Bergeron (7) -- 9 pts
• Madison Clemens (7) -- 9 pts
• Chelsea DeVerna (6) -- 7 pts
• Sarah Furminger (5) -- 6 pts
• Bre Pletnik (5) -- 6 pts
• Kristen Corder (4) -- 4 pts
• Larissa Nysch (4) -- 4 pts
• Caroline Dixon (4) -- 4 pts
• Nikki Misener (4) -- 4 pts

Winning Percentage

• Madison Clemens (1.000; 5 gms) -- 10 pts
• Shayla Bergeron (1.000; 4 gms) -- 9 pts
• Sarah Furminger (1.000; 4 gms) -- 9 pts
• Caroline Dixon (1.000; 3 gms) -- 7 pts
• Nikki Misener (1.000; 3 gms) -- 7 pts
• Amelia Pereira (.875; 8 gms) -- 5 pts
• Kristen Corder (.875; 4 gms) -- 4 pts
• Chelsea DeVerna (.600) -- 3 pts
• Larissa Nysch (.500) -- 2 pts
• Bre Pletnik (.400) -- 1 pt

Game Winning Goals

• Amelia Pereira (5) -- 10 pts
• Sarah Furminger (3) -- 9 pts
• Kristen Corder (2) -- 8 pts
• Nikki Misener (2) -- 8 pts
• Shayla Bergeron (1) -- 6 pts
• Madison Clemens (1) -- 6 pts
• Chelsea DeVerna (1) -- 6 pts
• Bre Pletnik (1) -- 6 pts
• Caroline Dixon (1) -- 6 pts
• Larissa Nysch (0) -- 1 pt

Goals in draws or one goal victories

• Madison Clemens (3) -- 10 pts
• Sarah Furminger (3) -- 10 pts
• Kristen Corder (3) -- 10 pts
• Amelia Pereira (2) -- 7 pts
• Shayla Bergeron (2) -- 7 pts
• Chelsea DeVerna (1) -- 5 pts
• Bre Pletnik (1) -- 5 pts
• Larissa Nysch (1) -- 5 pts
• Caroline Dixon (1) -- 5 pts
• Nikki Misener (1) -- 5 pts

Results

• Madison Clemens (35)
• Sarah Furminger (34)
• Amelia Pereira (32)
• Shayla Bergeron (31)
• Kristen Corder (26)
• Nikki Misener (24)
• Caroline Dixon (22)
• Chelsea DeVerna (21)
• Bre Pletnik (18)
• Larissa Nysch (12)

And there you have it. I think strong cases could be made for each of the top four players on this list as having scored the "most valuable goals". Pereira has scored five more goals than anyone in the conference, Clemens has scored in five games that were all wins for the Terriers and so on. To get this ranking system down to a science would take a lot more, but either way, it can tell us who's been having a great year.

Box Scores, Recaps and Highlights

VB: Binghamton fell to Cornell for the first time since 2005 in five sets: Box/Recap/Highlights

Linked Up

New Hampshire and Fox College Sports announced a 15-game broadcast deal.

Albany began releasing a series of player profiles for its men's basketball team today.

Vermont will kick off its basketball season with the Catamount Tip-Off next Saturday (Oct. 20).

Unfortunate news for Binghamton, as guard Rob Mansell will have to redshirt this season after knee surgery.

Two America East teams appear in this week's Northeast women's soccer rankings.

What's Next?

Men's Soccer

Vermont at Boston U., 7:00 p.m.

New Hampshire at Hartford, 7:00 p.m.

UMBC at Albany, 7:00 p.m.

Stony Brook at Binghamton, 7:00 p.m.

Daily Word: Most Valuable Goals

Anthony Santaga has been valuable for the Hawks.

There are countless ways to decide which player has the been most valuable. Since no one can figure out the best method, we decided to take a different approach to value when it comes to America East men's soccer: whose goals have meant the most? This post was inspired by reading the Vermont game recap of the Catamounts 3-2 victory over Hartford. In the notes section, it was pointed out that Vermont is 3-0-1 when D.J. Edler scores a goal. He just happened to score two in the victory over Hartford, so that was pretty valuable. But it got us wondering, where do some of the league's other top scorers rank in this department? So we turned to the numbers to figure it out.

A few things went into this process, starting with the players themselves. We took the top 10 scorers so far this year. Since there was a build up tied for eighth in the conference with three goals, we used total points as a tiebreaker here. Next is the criteria. The first is total goals, nothing tricky here. Next, we calculated the team winning percentage in games that a player scores. To round it out, we tallied game winning goals for each player and the number of goals a player had in games that were either won by a goal or resulted in a tie.

Now, we'll show you four lists in which the player's will be ranked from one to 10. A players ranking will correspond to a point total for that category. The player who comes out with the most points between the four categories has scored -- in this made up theory -- the most valuable goals of anyone in the conference this season. As a note, this is an exercise in the arbitrary. There's no real way to determine the value of each individual goal, but this is a way to have some fun with it.

Goals

• Jake Keegan (9 G) -- 10
• Javoni Simms (8 G) -- 9
• Leonardo Fernandes (7 G) -- 8
• Joe Losier (5 G) -- 7
• Anthony Santaga (5 G) -- 7
• D.J. Edler (5 G) -- 7
• Pete Caringi (4 G) -- 4
• Milo Kapor (3 G) -- 3
• Alejandro Fritz (3 G) -- 3
• Michael Bustamante (3 G) -- 3

Winning Percentage

• Alejandro Fritz (1.000) -- 10
• Anthony Santaga (.875) -- 9
• D.J. Edler (.875) -- 9
• Pete Caringi (.833) -- 7
• Leonardo Fernandes (.750) -- 6
• Jake Keegan (.714) -- 5
• Joe Losier (.700) -- 4
• Michael Bustamante (.667) -- 3
• Javoni Simms (.625) -- 2
• Milo Kapor (.500) -- 1

Game Winning Goals

• Leonardo Fernandes (4) -- 10
• Javoni Simms (4) -- 10
• Jake Keegan (3) -- 8
• Anthony Santaga (2) -- 7
• Michael Bustamante (1) -- 6
• Pete Caringi (1) -- 6
• Joe Losier (1) -- 6
• Alejandro Fritz (1) -- 6
• Milo Kapor (0) -- 1 (minimum points because no GWG's were scored)
• D.J. Edler (0) -- 1 (minimum points because no GWG's were scored)

Goals in draws or one goal victories

• Anthony Santaga (5) -- 10
• Leonardo Fernandes (4) -- 9
• Jake Keegan (4) -- 9
• Javoni Simms (4) -- 9
• Pete Caringi (3) -- 6
• Milo Kapor (2) -- 5
• Joe Losier (2) -- 5
• D.J. Edler (2) -- 5
• Alejandro Fritz (1) -- 2
• Michael Bustamante (1) -- 2

Results

• Leonardo Fernandes -- 33 pts
• Anthony Santaga -- 33 pts
• Jake Keegan -- 32 pts
• Javoni Simms -- 30 pts
• Pete Caringi -- 23 pts
• D.J. Edler -- 22 pts
• Joe Losier -- 22 pts
• Alejandro Fritz -- 21 pts
• Michael Bustamante -- 14 pts
• Milo Kapor -- 10 pts

So there you have it, America East soccer fans. Fernandes and Santaga tie for the honor of Most Valuable Goals, with Keegan and Simms trailing close behind. Of course, this is far from science. But you can see where those four combined volume of goals with goals in important spots to separate themselves. Pretty cool to look at if nothing else.

Box Scores, Recaps and Highlights

Field Hockey

Maine used a strong second half to get past Brown: Box/Recap

Vermont had a lead at halftime, but couldn't hold on against Providence: Box/Recap/Highlights

Linked Up

Former New Hampshire assistant Chip Kelly is revolutionizing offense at all levels of football, including with the Patriots.

A rugby superstar will relay an anti-bullying message to students at Stony Brook this afternoon.

Binghamton got a men's basketball commit for 2013. 

Hartford basketball announced its Midnight Mania event for the this Friday.

Albany students are getting excited about doing their part in the upcoming election.

What's Next?

Just one game tonight, as Binghamton visits Cornell for a 7 p.m. start in volleyball action.

Daily Word: AEC Rewind

D.J. Edler helped Vermont get to 2-0 in the America East.

Believe it or not, the start of the fall championships are just a little over two weeks away. We're starting to get an idea of what the playoff picture will look like and Hartford women's soccer became the first team to clinch a spot in its respective championship over the weekend. There were plenty of great games going on (the start of MLB playoffs among them), so let's take a look in your Monday AEC Rewind.

Box Scores, Recaps and Highlights

Men's Soccer

Boston U. went to Stony Brook and came away with a win in front of a record crowd: Box/Recap

D.J. Edler powered Vermont past Hartford to move to 2-0 in the America East: Box/Recap/Highlights

A late goal from Milo Kaper knotted UMBC and New Hampshire in a 1-1 draw: Box/Recap

Austin Hedges scored off of a corner in the 44th minute to push Binghamton past Albany: Box/Recap/Highlights

Women's Soccer

Two goals from Nikki Misener led Maine over Binghamton: Box/Recap

Boston U. pushed its winning streak to six with a one goal victory over Stony Brook: Box/Recap/Highlights

Ameilia Pereira is basically unstoppable at this point -- she notched two more goals to lead Hartford over Albany and clinch a postseason spot: Box/Recap/Highlights

New Hampshire used two first half goals to down Vermont: Box/Recap/Highlights

Field Hockey

New Hampshire tied the game with 20 seconds left in regulation before beating Albany in overtime: Box/Recap/Highlights

Ella Gunson scored twice as Boston U. defeated Vermont: Box/Recap

Maine and Fairfield went down to the wire before the Black Bears won in overtime: Box/Recap

Albany downed Columbia in a non-conference matchup: Box/Recap

No. 5 Virginia was on its game against New Hampshire, winning easily: Box/Recap

Volleyball

Hannah Schmidt led UMBC against Hartford in a straight set victory: Box/Recap

Albany continued its America East dominance with win over Binghamton: Box/Recap/Highlights

New Hampshire stretched its winning streak to seven with 3-1 victory over Stony Brook: Box/Recap/Highlights

Binghamton bounced back with straight set win over Hartford: Box/Recap

Melissa Rigo notched 15 kills as Stony Brook bounced Providence: Box/Recap

Albany is still undefeated in America East play after its victory over UMBC: Box/Recap/Highlights

Cross Country

Boston U. runners had a great day at the New England Collegiate Championships, with Monica Adler taking first in the women's race. Check out the full men's and women's results here.

Linked Up

Boston U. students have made a pledge to do one million hours of community service.

The Stony Brook baseball team will participate in the community Columbus Day Parade.

Binghamton announced its Late Nite Madness event to kick off basketball season.

Vermont's new president outlined his vision for the college.

Some football news, as New Hampshire head coach Sean McDonnell earned his 100th victory. Congrats, coach.

What's Next?

A couple non-conference field hockey games tonight, as Maine hosts Brown and Vermont hosts Providence. Both games begin at noon.