Women's Soccer Score: UAlbany 3, UMBC 1
Location: Baltimore, Md. – Retriever Soccer Park
Records: UAlbany (3-7, 1-0 AE), UMBC (2-5-3, 0-1 AE)
Short Story: The UAlbany women's soccer team scored twice in the second half to earn a 3-1 America East-opening road victory over UMBC, highlighted by two goals from Vivian Vega.
Key Stats:
- UAlbany: Vivian Vega netted UAlbany's first goal in the 34th minute and final goal in the 75th minute, now standing with 22 career goals to be one shy of the all-time program record. Gina Bracamonte had the go-ahead goal in the 52nd minute. Caroline Kopp had two assists while Andrea Leitner earned the win in goal with two saves.
- UMBC: Meredith Webber scored the equalizer goal in the 44th minute from Evie Kenna. Leah Roth took the loss with five saves and two goals allowed in the opening 73:23.
- This is UAlbany's first conference-opening victory since 2006. That year, UAlbany defeated Vermont 3-1 to begin conference play.
- UAlbany outshot UMBC 19-10, including having nine shots on goal compared to three for UMBC.
Key Situations:
- 34' UAlbany goal – Free kick from Caroline Kopp is deflected by Hailey Summers to Vivian Vega for the kick and score inside the left post.
- 43' UMBC goal – Long kick into the box finds Meredith Webber for the header inside the post.
- 52' UAlbany goal – A corner kick is crossed to Katie Gowing off the post. Gina Bracamonte gets the ball close range and kicks off a UMBC defender into the net
- 75' UAlbany goal – High arc kick into the box from Kopp is headed by Vega, colliding with a defender, past a diving keeper into the net.
Quotes: “We're really pleased with both the result and the effort today. UMBC is a difficult trip, and it was a hot and taxing day. We have a lot to be happy with: three points away from home and a lot of good performances all around today. We are continuing to grow every single day, but I am really pleased with the effort and performance today.” – UAlbany head coach Nick Bochette
“It was such an exciting feeling to get on the board again, and even more, I'm glad we started our conference play with a win.” – UAlbany senior forward Vivian Vega
Recap: With two goals scored in the second half, the UAlbany women's soccer team earned its first conference-opening victory since 2006 with a 3-1 road win over UMBC on Sunday afternoon.
UAlbany was the early aggressor with the first three shots and trio of corner kicks, with a third shot from Vivian Vega being saved. After three more shots, including two more from Vega being saved, Caroline Kopp sent a corner kick to Katie Gowing, who missed a header high. UAlbany broke through in the 34th minute as Kopp sent a free kick into the box off Hailey Summers to Vega for the kick and score in the post, making it 1-0 Great Danes. UMBC equalized in the 43rd minute off a header from a long kick by Meredith Webber inside the post for a 1-1 halftime score.
Into the second half, a corner kick from Kopp was kicked by Gowing into the post. A second attempt by Gina Bracamonte deflected off a UMBC defender into the net for the goal to give UAlbany a 2-1 advantage in the 52nd minute. UMBC threatened in its offensive third in the following minutes, with shots from Gabby Boehmer and Nikki Saad missing the cage. A red card on UMBC keeper Leah Roth in the 74th minute gave UAlbany a player-up situation; UAlbany took advantage in the next minute as Kopp arced a high kick into the box with a running Vega heading the ball over a jumping defender for her second goal and giving the Great Danes a 3-1 lead. UMBC sent a few more shots to the cage but missed wide as UAlbany held for the 3-1 victory.
UAlbany returns to Tom & Mary Casey Stadium for the conference home opener on Thursday, September 28th at 7 p.m. against Binghamton.
