ALBANY, N.Y. – UAlbany women's soccer begins its regular season-ending two-game road trip on Sunday at NJIT.
 
Game Info
Sunday, October 24 at NJIT (1:00 pm)
Live Stats | AE.tv
 
Leading the Pack

• Eight Great Danes have scored a goal this season, and six have recorded an assist
• UAlbany returns five All-Conference players from the spring season, including spring Strike of the Year Jasmine Colbert
• Colbert led UAlbany with five goals in the spring, all five of which were game-winners
• UAlbany also returns defensive starters Hailey Summers and Sophia Eifler, and goalkeeper Sophia Chen, alongside spring All-Rookie selections Olivia Piraino and Margot Nezaj
• UAlbany is 1-3-3 on the road this season; NJIT is 4-4-0 at home
• Jasmine Colbert leads the America East in shots taken (67), 17 more than second place, twin sister Jada, and ranks second in goals scored (8) and total points (17)
• Cassandra Coster ranks second in the America East in save percentage (.868) and third in goals-against average (0.81)
• NJIT ranks 10th in the America East in scoring offense
• Following the spring's unique two-division schedule, the America East returns to its normal round-robin format for the fall 

Scouting NJIT
Second-year America East program NJIT opened the season 0-4 and is 3-2-1 in its last six games.  The Highlanders were picked to finish eighth in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll, tied with Maine..  Ten of NJIT's 12 goals this season have been scored after halftime.  In two meetings since the 2014 season, UAlbany is 2-0-0 against the Highlanders.
 
Last Time vs. NJIT
The Great Danes played their 2021 spring season finale at America East newcomer NJIT for the first meeting between the teams.  UAlbany clinched a 1-0 victory to bring their full-season record to 5-5 overall and 4-2 in-conference.  Jasmine Colbert scored her fifth game-winning goal of the season, leading to her naming as the spring 2021 America East Striker of the Year a few days later.  Additionally, goalkeeper Sophia Chen recorded her fourth shutout of the season.  Despite conceding eight corner kicks while gaining two, UAlbany outshot NJIT 21-8 overall, including 11-1 in the first half.
 
Last Time Out
UAlbany hosted its senior day and regular season finale last weekend against UMBC, defeating the Retrievers by their most lopsided margin of the season, 4-0.  The Great Danes honored a total of seven seniors, in addition to a brief recognition of three players who exercised their additional year of eligibility granted due to COVID-19 to return to UAlbany for one final season.  Olivia Piraino scored almost immediately, putting UAlbany up 1-0 in the fifth minute.  Goals were later added in the 35th by Jasmine Colbert, her eighth of the year, in the 56th by Devon Schmitt, and in the 79th by senior Christina Cernuto.
 
Around the America East
Vermont has launched itself into first place with two games remaining on the back of a conference-best five-game winning streak.  The Catamounts have 15 points, one ahead of Binghamton, and two ahead of UMass Lowell.  UAlbany remains tied for fourth with Hartford with 11 points each, followed by New Hampshire and NJIT tied for the sixth and final playoff spot with 10 points. Three-time defending champion Stony Brook is eighth with seven points, followed by UMBC and Maine with four points each.
 
Common Opponents

• Wagner
  • UAlbany: 9/12 at Wagner, L, 1-2
  • NJIT: 9/2 vs. Wagner, W, 1-0
• Stony Brook
  • UAlbany: 9/19 at Stony Brook, L, 1-2
  • NJIT: 9/30 vs. Stony Brook, W 1-0
• New Hampshire
  • UAlbany: 9/26 vs. New Hampshire, T, 1-1 (2OT)
  • NJIT: 10/17 at New Hampshire, W, 1-0
• Maine
  • UAlbany: 10/3 vs. Maine, W, 1-0
  • NJIT: 9/26 vs. Maine, W, 1-0
• UMass Lowell
  • UAlbany: 10/10 at UMass Lowell, W, 1-0 (OT)
  • NJIT: 9/19 at UMass Lowell, L, 1-2
• Vermont
  • UAlbany: 10/14 vs. Vermont, L, 0-2
  • NJIT: 10/3 at Vermont, L, 0-2
• UMBC
  • UAlbany: 10/17 vs. UMBC, W, 4-0
  • NJIT: 10/14 at UMBC, T, 0-0 (2OT)

Sunday's America East Games

• UMass Lowell at Stony Brook, 1:00 pm
• Vermont at UMBC, 1:00 pm
• UAlbany at NJIT, 1:00 pm
• Hartford at Maine, 1:00 pm

Seniors
The 2021 Great Danes have seven seniors on the roster: Caitlyn Adams, Chloe Argenziano, Christina Cernuto, Jada Colbert, Jasmine Colbert, Kelsey Murphy, and Amanda O'Brien.  They are the final seven holdovers from UAlbany's last America East title, their record-setting 2018 team.  Additionally, three players, Sophia Chen, Sophia Eifler, and Hailey Summers, exercised their extra year of eligibility to return to UAlbany to play one final season.  The team's senior game against UMBC went off without a hitch, with the Great Danes winning by their most lopsided margin of the season, 4-0, with Cernuto scoring a goal off the bench.
 
Player of the Week
Freshman goalkeeper Cassandra Coster back-to-back shutout victories over Maine and UMass Lowell earned her first America East weekly awards in her career.  Coster was recognized as the conference's Defensive Player and Rookie of the Week on October 11 for her efforts against the Black Bears and the River Hawks, recording a career-high 11 saves against the latter.  It was also the first time this season a Great Dane had won a weekly award.
 
Overtime Madness
Against UMass Lowell on October 10, UAlbany went into overtime for the fifth time this season.  Each of the first four overtime matches ended in a tie after 110 minutes of play.  The game against UMass Lowell, at the time 4-0-0 against America East opponents and leading the conference standings, broke that trend, with Jasmine Colbert scoring in the 93rd minute to give UAlbany its first victory in extra time all season.
 
Tying Up
For three games in a row, at Siena, vs. New Hampshire, and at Hartford, the Great Danes recorded a result of a 1-1, double-overtime tie.  In the first two games, UAlbany took the lead and let up the equalizer later, and against Hartford, the first-place Hawks scored first only for UAlbany to respond and force overtime.  The streak ended at home against Maine, a 1-0 victory.  An additional streak for the Great Danes remains active, six straight games scoring exactly one goal.
 
Streak Ender
With her unassisted goal in the 62nd minute at Hartford, Jada Colbert ended a streak where the Hawks had not conceded a goal at home to that point in the season.  Hartford had not allowed a goal at home for 361 total minutes, into their fifth home game, before Colbert found the back of the net.  The last goal Hartford conceded at home was in the 14th minute of the game against New Hampshire by Ally Reynolds on October 20, 2019, since the Hawks did not play in the 2021 spring season, adding 291 minutes to their streak dating to that game.
 
Breaking Through
The Great Danes' first victory of the season came in their fifth game, against Yale, and featured a barrage of scoring with both teams combining for a total of seven goals.  UAlbany defeated the Bulldogs 4-3, scoring three goals in the second half.  Yale scored within the first two minutes, in what looked like the start of a repeat of the last meeting between the two teams in 2019 when Yale won 4-0.  UAlbany tied the game before halftime however, before ceding another goal to the Bulldogs shortly after the second half.  UAlbany scored the next three goals, including an own-goal from Yale to go up 4-2, before Yale scored on a PK to cut the lead to one.  The Bulldogs earned three corner kicks in the final minute of the game, the second of which nearly resulted in an equalizer if not for UAlbany goalkeeper Sophia Chen turning it away.
 
Schedule Shakeup
Four of UAlbany's first five games on the 2021 calendar have required adjustments from their original plans.  The opener at Syracuse was cancelled due to inclement weather.  The second game, the home opener against Hofstra, was moved up two hours to avoid weather from Tropical Storm Henri.  The third game, at CCSU, was pushed back one hour to avoid excessive heat.  Most recently, the team's road game at Quinnipiac was cancelled due to inclement weather.
 
Top Drawer Soccer Preseason America East Top-20

• Jasmine Colbert – 2
• Hailey Summers – 4
• Olivia Piraino - 20

Picked Fifth
The Great Danes were picked to finish fifth in the 2021 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.  UAlbany drew 52 points in fifth place behind two-time defending conference champion and unanimous favorite Stony Brook.  The Seawolves pulled in 81 total points and all nine possible first-place votes.  UMass Lowell was second, garnering the final first-place vote and 67 total points.  Binghamton (61) and New Hampshire (52) were picked just ahead of UAlbany.  Behind the Great Danes, perennial power Hartford was picked sixth with 50 points, followed by Vermont (28), Maine and NJIT (20), and UMBC (17).
 
Captains
The UAlbany women's soccer team features three captains for the 2021-22 season in goalkeeper Sophia Chen, midfielder Sophia Eifler, and defender Hailey Summers.  Each was a sophomore on the team for UAlbany's most recent America East title in 2018, and each has elected to utilize their additional year of eligibility to return to UAlbany this season.
 
Colbert Connection
Three times in their careers, twin sisters Jada and Jasmine Colbert connected on a goal.  Jasmine set up Jada for the first goal of the 2019 game against UMass Lowell.  Earlier in the 2019 season, against St. Francis Brooklyn, the twins connected for the first time in their UAlbany careers, when Jada set up Jasmine to put UAlbany up 2-0 right after halftime.  Most recently, the twins connected when Jada set up Jasmine for the game-winner against Stony Brook in the spring 2021 season.
 
Home Field
The Great Danes finished the 2019 regular season unbeaten at home, going 6-0-2, before falling at home in the America East semifinals.  UAlbany went 8-1-1 at Casey Stadium in 2018, including quarterfinal and championship victories in the America East Tournament.  The Great Danes let up just eight goals in 10 games at home in 2019, and just two in the last five.  Dating back to the 2015 season, the year of the program's first America East title, and to date in the 2021 fall season, the Great Danes are 36-15-4 at home.
 
Next: UAlbany visits Binghamton for its 2021 regular season finale on October 28.