ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany women's soccer team visits top-seed Binghamton in the America East semifinal round.
 
Game Info
Thursday, November 3 at No. 1 Binghamton (6:00 pm)
Live Stats | ESPN+ | Game Notes
 
Leading the Pack

• UAlbany is 3-5-1 on the road this season; Binghamton is 4-2-1 at home
• Binghamton leads the America East in scoring offense; UAlbany ranks sixth
• Binghamton ranks fourth in the America East in scoring defense; UAlbany ranks sixth
• Sahara Zingano leads the America East in shots taken and shots per game
• Selma Elverum shares the America East lead in total assists
• Binghamton's Maya Anand shares the America East lead in goals scored and total points
• Emily Jozak ranks third in the America East in goals scored
• UAlbany is 4-4-0 in the America East semifinal round

Scouting Binghamton
The Bearcats claimed the outright America East regular season title behind a 6-1-1 conference record while going 9-5-3 overall.  Binghamton went 3-0-1 in its final four games of the regular season, culminating in a 5-0 shutout at UMBC, to earn the regular-season title.  Maya Anand shares the America East with 24 points and 10 goals scored.  Three other Bearcats have scored at least five goals.  Last season, UAlbany defeated Binghamton at the end of the regular season to drop the Bearcats out of second place in the standings and earn a home quarterfinal matchup, and again four days later in the quarterfinal round. UAlbany is 8-13-3 against the Bearcats since the 2000 season.
 
Last Time vs. Binghamton
October 13, 2022 | UAlbany hosted Binghamton to kick off the team's second three-game home stand of the season.  Olivia Piraino scored for the Great Danes in the seventh minute, off a setup from Selma Elverum, to give UAlbany an early lead.  Binghamton countered with two goals before halftime to take a 2-1 lead into the break, and then one more in the second half to win 3-1.  The teams combined for a total of 48 shots taken over the 90 minutes.
 
Last Time Out
UAlbany clinched the five-seed in the 2022 America East Tournament, and opened their postseason visiting four-seed and preseason conference favorite UMass Lowell in the quarterfinal round.  The Great Danes had defeated the River Hawks 1-0 during the regular season.  In their second meeting, junior forward Olivia Piraino scored twice and senior midfielder Marisa Tava scored on a penalty kick, and the Great Danes upset the River Hawks 3-1 to advance to the semifinals.
 
Around the America East
The America East semifinal round has been set, with five-seed UAlbany upsetting four-seed UMass Lowell 3-1 and three-seed Maine knocking off six-seed NJIT to advance in the bracket.  The top two teams, Binghamton and New Hampshire, now enter the competition after receiving quarterfinal byes to host their opponents.  UAlbany will visit Binghamton and New Hampshire will host Maine for a spot in Sunday's title game.
 
Thursday's America East Games

• No. 5 UAlbany at No. 1 Binghamton, 6:00 pm
• No. 3 Maine at No. 2 New Hampshire, 6:00 pm

Common Opponents

• Cornell
  • UAlbany: 9/7 vs. Cornell, T, 1-1
  • Binghamton: 9/14 vs. Cornell, T, 1-1
• New Hampshire
  • UAlbany: 9/18 at New Hampshire, W, 2-1
  • Binghamton: 10/9 vs. New Hampshire, L, 1-2
• UMass Lowell
  • UAlbany: 9/25 vs. UMass Lowell, W, 1-0; 10/30 at No. 4 UMass Lowell, W, 3-1
  • Binghamton: 10/23 vs. UMass Lowell, W, 5-4
• Bryant
  • UAlbany: 9/29 vs. Bryant, T, 1-1
  • Binghamton: 9/18 vs. Bryant, W, 1-0
• Maine
  • UAlbany: 10/2 at Maine, L, 0-1
  • Binghamton: 10/16 at Maine, T, 0-0
• UMBC
  • UAlbany: 10/9 at UMBC, W, 2-1
  • Binghamton: 10/27 at UMBC, W, 5-0
• NJIT
  • UAlbany: 10/16 vs. NJIT, T, 1-1
  • Binghamton: 9/29 vs. NJIT, W, 1-0
• Vermont
  • UAlbany: 10/27 at Vermont, T, 1-1
  • Binghamton: 10/2 at Vermont, W, 6-1

Rookie of the Year
Continuing UAlbany's trend of winning the award every other year since 2014, freshman forward Emily Jozak was named the 2022 America East Rookie of the Year.  Jozak led UAlbany in 2022 with seven goals, ranking in a tie for third-highest total in the America East.  Jozak was also named America East Rookie of the Week three times, including after she tied the single-game program records with three goals and six points against Rider in the Great Danes' first victory of the season.  Jozak is UAlbany's seventh Rookie of the Year winner, following Teresa Boring (2007), Chelsea DeVerna (2009), Vivian Vega (2014), Meghan Cavanaugh (2016), Jasmine Colbert (2018), and Leah Pais (2019).
 
All-Conference
Following the 2022 regular season, the Great Danes saw five players earn six All-Conference awards.  Three players, Olivia Piraino, Marisa Tava, and Carly Binn earned Second Team honors, while freshmen Emily Jozak and Selma Elverum were named to the All-Rookie Team.  Finally, Piraino was the team's lone representative on the All-Academic Team.
 
Mainstays
Since earning their first postseason berth during the 2009 season, UAlbany women's soccer has qualified for all but two postseason tournaments, missing out only in 2013 and in the COVID-affected 2020-21 season.  Overall, UAlbany is 12-7-1, including 5-2-1 in the quarterfinal round, in America East postseason matches, with three America East championships.
 
Five-Seed
Following UAlbany's tie in the regular-season finale at Vermont, the Great Danes locked into the five-seed for the 2022 America East Tournament.  This is the third time in program history that UAlbany will be the five-seed in the postseason, with the last time coming in the 2012 season.  That season, the Great Danes tied four-seed Vermont in Burlington in the quarterfinals, and were eliminated 2-3 on penalty kicks.
 
Clinched
With their 1-1 draw against NJIT, the Great Danes increased their season points total to 11 points and secured their spot in the 2022 America East Tournament.  It will mark UAlbany's 12th postseason appearance since 2009, during which time the Great Danes are 12-7-1 in conference tournament games overall.
 
Seniors
The Great Danes will recognize the five seniors on the 2022 roster in a short ceremony before the game against NJIT: Tiffany Bernot, Savannah Edwards, Natasha Fowler-Varon, Marisa Tava, and Savannah Edwards.  Collectively, the quintet has gone 25-27-9 overall with one America East regular season title in 2019.
 
Defensive Player of the Week
Megan Hart earned her first-ever America East weekly award following her performance in the Great Danes' 1-0 victory over America East preseason favorite UMass Lowell.  Hart recorded five total saves against the River Hawks, including one on a penalty kick in the 10th minute, and earned her first career shutout, powering the Great Danes' second conference win of the season.
 
Rookie of the Week III
Emily Jozak won her third America East Rookie of the Week award in four weeks following her game-winning goal against preseason America East favorite UMass Lowell.  When UAlbany drew a corner kick in the 56th minute, Jozak successfully navigated a scrum of UMass Lowell defenders to redirect Tiffany Bernot's serve into the back of the River Hawks' net.  The goal was the only score of the game, giving UAlbany a 1-0 victory.
 
Offensive Player of the Week
Junior midfielder Olivia Piraino had a career game against New Hampshire to start the 2022 conference season.  Piraino scored a career-high two goals, one in each half, to power the Great Danes to victory over the 2021 America East finalists.  Her efforts earned Piraino her first-ever America East Offensive Player of the Week honor.
 
Road Win
In their fifth opportunity of the season, the UAlbany women's soccer team secured their first victory of the year away from home.  The Great Danes downed 2021 America East finalist New Hampshire in Wildcat Stadium by a final score of 2-1 behind two goals from junior midfielder Olivia Piraino.
 
Rookie of the Week II
Emily Jozak won her second-straight America East Rookie of the Week award after scoring one goal in UAlbany's 4-1 victory over Wagner at home.  Jozak brought her goals total to four on the season, maintaining her team lead and ranking tied for third among all America East scorers.
 
Rookie of the Week I
Following her big game against Rider, Emily Jozak was named America East Rookie of the Week.  Jozak's three goals matched the program's single-game record for goals and points in the Division I era, matching the mark set in 2017 by Mariah Williams against Maine.  Jozak is UAlbany's first Rookie of the Week winner since Cassie Coster was named Rookie and Defensive Player last October.
 
Record-Setting
The UAlbany women's soccer program record book required rewriting following the team's first victory of 2022, a 3-1 win over visiting Rider.  Freshman Emily Jozak recorded the program's second hat trick of the Division I era, matching Mariah Williams' single-game records with three goals and six points.  Additionally, the team's 29 total shots against the Broncs were tied for the sixth-highest in a single game in Division I program history, matching two previous efforts in 2019 against Maine and 2008 against UMBC.
 
First Win
Five games into her career as head coach at UAlbany, her first head coaching stint, Sade Ayinde recorded her first victory.  The Great Danes fell behind at home against Rider 1-0 but rallied and maintained their offensive pressure to score three times in 10 in-game minutes to knock off the Broncs 3-1.
 
Breaking Through
The Great Danes started the season slowly, dropping each of their first four games without scoring a goal in any.  In game five, at home against then 3-0-1 Rider, UAlbany finally found the back of the net in the 40th minute when Sahara Zingano connected with freshman Emily Jozak for Jozak's first career goal.  The score ended a run of more than 400 in-game minutes without a goal dating back to the final game of the 2021 season at Vermont in the America East semifinal round.
 
Picked Fifth
UAlbany was picked to finish fifth in the 2022 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll, after finishing the 2021 season fourth and advancing to the America East semifinal round.  It is the second-straight season in which the Great Danes were picked fifth.  UMass Lowell narrowly edged defending regular-season and conference champion Vermont for first-place in this season's poll.
 
Home Field
UAlbany has been excellent within the confines of Tom & Mary Casey Stadium for the better part of the last decade, boasting a 40-19-8 record at home since the start of the 2015 season, the year of the program's first America East title.  The Great Danes went 4-3-1 at home in 2021, and between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, UAlbany was 14-1-3, including a 2019 season in which they gave up just eight goals at home while going 8-0-1 during the regular season.
 
First Year
Sade Ayinde was hired on February 16, 2022 as UAlbany's 14th head women's soccer coach, and eighth during the program's Division I era.  She steps in for Leigh Howard, who oversaw the team for two seasons before moving on to work with the Special Olympics.  Ayinde was a standout at Maryland during her collegiate career, scoring 16 goals with 17 assists in 79 appearances over four seasons.  Her previous collegiate coaching stops include Stony Brook and, most recently, Yale, and she also works with the US National program.
 
Game Over
Adopted starting this season, regular-season matches will no longer go into extra time when tied at the conclusion of regulation.  The regular-seasons games will conclude after 90 minutes of play.  Overtime and shootouts will return starting in the postseason.  Overtime will be played in its entirety, and will not be ended via golden-goal.
 
Next: The winner of Thursday's game will advance to the America East final on Sunday, November 6.