ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany women's soccer team returns to conference play on Sunday, hosting preseason America East favorite UMass Lowell.
 
Game Info
Sunday, September 25 vs. UMass Lowell (1:00 pm)
Live Stats | AE.tv | Game Notes
 
Leading the Pack

• UAlbany is 2-2-1 at home this season; UMass Lowell is 0-3-2 on the road
• UAlbany ranks third in the America East in scoring offense; UMass Lowell ranks second
• UAlbany and UMass Lowell rank eighth and ninth in scoring defense, respectively
• UAlbany leads the America East in shots taken
• Sahara Zingano leads the America East in shots taken and shots on goal
• Olivia Piraino ranks second in shots on goal
• Emily Jozak ranks tied for third in goals scored
• UMass Lowell's Ioanna Papatheodorou shares the conference lead in goals scored
• Megan Hart ranks third in saves

Scouting UMass Lowell
The River Hawks were picked as the favorite in the 2022 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll, returning reigning Striker and Rookie of the Year Ioanna Papatheodorou, and two-time Defender of the Year Dunja Mostarac from last season's 8-6-3 campaign that ended in a shootout to New Hampshire in the America East semifinal round.  This season, UMass Lowell is 3-4-2 overall and has yet to play its first conference game.  UMass Lowell has scored 15 goals this season, the second-highest total in the conference, but has allowed 20, more than any other America East team.  Papatheodorou shares the conference lead with five individual goals.  UAlbany is 5-4-1 against UMass Lowell since the River Hawks joined the America East.
 
Last Time vs. UMass Lowell
Sept. 9, 2021 | For the second time in 11 days, the Great Danes played the first-place team in the America East standings on the road.  First, UAlbany tied then-first place Hartford 1-1 in double-overtime.  Most recently, UAlbany visited first place UMass Lowell, who to date was also undefeated in conference play at 4-0-0.  UAlbany and UMass Lowell played a scoreless 90 minutes and went into overtime where Jasmine Colbert scored in the 93rd minute to knock off the River Hawks.  It was UAlbany's fifth overtime game of the year, and fourth in their last five games.  Colbert scored a game-winner for the second-straight game, and UAlbany goalkeeper Cassandra Coster recorded her second-straight shutout behind a career-high 11 saves.
 
Last Time Out
The Great Danes opened their conference slate for the 2022 season against 2021 America East finalist New Hampshire.  Junior midfielder Olivia Piraino scored twice to power the Great Danes' victory over the Wildcats, their second-straight win, and first road win of the season.  UAlbany goalkeeper Megan Hart just missed out on her first career shutout after New Hampshire scored in the 82nd minute.
 
Around the America East
Through one conference game, Binghamton and UAlbany are first and second with three points each following victories in their respective conference openers.  A four-way tie for third between Maine, UMBC, Vermont, and NJIT sits behind the top-two, each of whom tied their openers and earned one point.  UMass Lowell has yet to play their conference opener, while Bryant and New Hampshire are winless in conference after one game.
 
Sunday's America East Games

• Maine at UMBC, 12:00 pm
• New Hampshire at NJIT, 1:00 pm
• UMass Lowell at UAlbany, 1:00 pm
• Vermont at Bryant, 2:00 pm

Common Opponents

• UMass
  • UAlbany: August 18 at UMass, L, 0-1
  • UMass Lowell: September 4 at UMass, T, 2-2

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 38-16-4 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.
 
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.
 
Next: UAlbany concludes its three-game home stand on September 29 against Bryant.