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BURLINGTON, Vt. – The Vermont field hockey team continues America East play this week with a tilt at New Hampshire on Friday (Oct. 17) at 4 p.m. Two days later (Oct. 19), the Catamounts host Davidson in a non-conference matchup at 12 p.m. on UVM's Senior Day at Moulton Winder Field.
 
RELATED LINKS
Game coverage vs. New Hampshire: Live Video (free) | Live Stats (free)
Game coverage vs. Davidson: Live Video (free) via CatamounTV.com
 
SENIOR DAY
On October 19, prior to Vermont's contest against Davidson, UVM will celebrate Senior Day by honoring this year's three Catamount seniors with a pregame ceremony. Kalli Barrett, Mary Knapp and Ashley McDonald will be honored for their contributions to the program throughout their four years at Vermont. The three seniors have combined to play in 133 games with UVM.
 
ABOUT VERMONT
The Catamounts went 1-1 this past week en route to their first conference victory of the season. Vermont shutout UMass Lowell 1-0 in Burlington on Friday, and now sits in a tie for third place in the America East standings. Junior Molly Higgins tallied a second period goal and freshman Lena Benwood shutout the River Hawks to lead UVM to the victory. The tally for Higgins was her first career game-winning goal.
 
Taylor Gaines (11 pts.), Ashley McDonald (8) and Higgins (5) are Vermont's top three scorers through the first 13 games. Gaines leads UVM with five goals, and Higgins tops the squad with three assists. Benwood has started the last eight games in goal for the Catamounts and owns a 2.80 goals against average and .722 save percentage on the year.
 
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK | America East Release
On Monday, Benwood was named the America East Defensive Player of the Week. The rookie made a combined 11 saves in contests against UMass Lowell and Rider, as she collected her second weekly honor of the season (earned rookie of the week on Sept. 15). Benwood stopped five shots and posted her first career shutout in Vermont's 1-0 victory over UMass Lowell on Friday. She followed that up with six saves in an overtime loss versus Rider on Sunday. The British Columbia native is currently tied for 14^th in the nation, averaging 6.50 saves per game.
 
SCOUTING NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Wildcats, who sit at 3-10 overall and 1-1 in America East, are tied with Vermont for third place in the conference standings. This past week, they dropped a conference matchup to Albany (4-2) and now enter the match with UVM having lost four of their last five contests. Junior Meg Flatley leads the Wildcats in all three scoring categories with 10 goals, four assists and 24 points, and ranks second in the conference in points per game (1.85). Sophomore Lindsey Nerbonne has helped pace the Wildcats this season with 11 points on five goals and one assist. Senior goalie Carlie Tarbell owns a 2.53 GAA and .676 save pct. in 13 starts.

SCOUTING DAVIDSON
Davidson owns a 2-12 overall mark and 1-3 record in the Atlantic 10, and is currently riding a four-game losing streak. The Wildcats are set to play UMass on Friday before taking on Vermont two days later. Davidson is averaging under a goal per game (0.86) and is allowing an average of 2.21 to opponents. Becca Jones is the team's top scorer with eight points (3 g, 2 ast) and Melissa Funsten is second on the squad with six points (2 g, 2 ast). Emily Leytham has started all 14 games in net, posting a 2.73 GAA and .788 save pct.

NEXT UP
The Catamounts play their second-to-last conference game of the season against Fairfield on Friday (Oct. 24) at 3 p.m. in Connecticut. Click here for links to live video and stats of the contest.