ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany women's soccer program ushers in a new era under first-year head coach Sade Ayinde with two road games to kick off the 2022 season.
 
Game Info
Thursday, August 18 at UMass, 4:00 pm
Live Stats | ESPN+
 
Sunday, August 21 at Monmouth, 2:00 pm
Live Stats | FloSports
 
Leading the Pack

• UAlbany returns 10 players who started at least two games in 2021, including six who started 12 or more of the team's 18 total games
• Midfielder Olivia Piraino is the team's top returning scorer, ranking tied for second in 2021 with three goals and seven total points
• UAlbany will seek to replace its leading scorer from 2021, Jasmine Colbert, who scored nine of the Great Danes' 22 total goals
• The Great Danes welcome eight new players to the roster this season
• UAlbany last won a season opener in 2016 at Army West Point, 2-0

Scouting UMass
UMass went 11-6-4 in 2021 and appeared in the Atlantic-10 title game, where they lost 4-1 to Saint Louis.  The Minutewomen, who return three All-Conference players from 2021, were picked to finish fifth in the Preseason A-10 Coaches' Poll, UMass was the Great Danes' first opponent of their Division I era back in 1999.  The teams have met seven times since 1999, with the Minutewomen holding 5-2-0 advantage in the series.
 
Last Time vs. UMass
UAlbany has not played UMass for a decade, last meeting during the 2012 season, a 1-0 victory in Amherst.  The Minutewomen scored in the 37th minute for the game's lone goal, and held on during UAlbany's 9-6 second-half shots advantage to win by one.  UMass goalkeeper Stephanie Gordan recorded all five of her saves after halftime.
 
Scouting Monmouth
Monmouth moves into the Colonial Athletic Association this season from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, where they went 15-5-1 and won the league title in their final season.  Monmouth drew Penn State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and fell to the Nittany Lions 3-1.  The Hawks, who were picked fourth in the CAA's preseason coaches' poll while garnering one first-place vote, open their season on August 19 at Lehigh before hosting UAlbany on Sunday for their home opener.
 
Last Time vs. Monmouth
UAlbany and Monmouth have played just once during the Great Danes' Division I era, in the 2006 season with the Hawks claiming a 5-1 victory.  Monmouth scored two goals in the first half, before UAlbany cut the lead in half about 90 seconds following the Hawks' second goal.  The final 25 minutes of the first half went by without another score, but Monmouth added three more goals after the break, while outshooting UAlbany by a total of 21-9 over the course of the game.
 
Last Time Out
UAlbany ended the 2021 season in the America East semifinal round, falling to eventual champion Vermont in Burlington 3-1.  The Catamounts, who defeated UAlbany in Albany 2-0 during the regular season, scored three-straight after Jasmine Colbert put UAlbany ahead with a penalty kick in the 21st minute.  UAlbany reached the semifinal round by clinching a spot in the postseason after defeated then-two-seed Binghamton, which earned the Great Danes a home game, where they defeated the Bearcats for the second time in four days.
 
Around the America East
2022 marks the first season in the America East without perennial powers Hartford and Stony Brook, who each departed the conference for other opportunities.  The conference brought in Bryant to bolster its ranks amid the two departures.  UMass Lowell was picked as a narrow favorite in the preseason coaches' poll, while defending conference and regular-season champion Vermont was picked second right behind the River Hawks.  Eight of the conference's nine teams will play in their season openers on Thursday, while all nine teams will be in action on Sunday.
 
Thursday's America East Games

• Bryant at Saint Peter's, 12:00 pm
• UMBC at George Washington, 3:00 pm
• UAlbany at UMass, 4:00 pm
• LIU at NJIT, 6:00 pm
• Merrimack at UMass Lowell, 7:00 pm
• Vermont at Sacred Heart, 7:00 pm
• Binghamton at Buffalo, 7:00 pm
• New Hampshire at Syracuse, 7:00 pm

Sunday's America East Games

• St. John's at NJIT, 12:00 pm
• UMass Lowell at Georgetown, 1:00 pm
• Saint Peter's at Maine, 1:00 pm
• New Hampshire at St. Francis Brooklyn, 1:00 pm
• Vermont at Merrimack, 1:00 pm
• UMBC at Longwood, 2:00 pm
• Stony Brook at Bryant, 2:00 pm
• UAlbany at Monmouth, 2:00 pm
• Temple at Binghamton, 3:00 pm

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 36-15-4 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 an unbeaten 2019 season in which they gave up just eight goals at home.
 
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.
 
Next: UAlbany hosts its home opener on Friday, August 26 against Brown.  Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 pm.