ALBANY, N.Y. - The University at Albany women's soccer team is headed to Fordham on Sunday afternoon in the team's first road game of the season. 
 
Game Info
Sunday, Aug. 25 at Fordham
Moglia Stadium at Jack Coffey Field in Bronx, N.Y.
1:00 pm
Live Stats | ESPN+ | Int'l Stream
 
Strong Start
The Great Danes kicked off the season on Saturday (Aug. 17) with a home win against LIU. After falling behind in the first half, UAlbany roared back with three-straight goals to take home the 3-1 victory. Three different goal-scorers found their way onto the stat sheet with Sydney Kofton, Casey Stowell, and Hailey Hnis each collecting their first of the year.
 
Kofton tied the game for the Great Danes as the clock struck 49 minutes, hitting a header on a perfect feed from Madison Wisheart to make it 1-1. Not even two minutes later, Hnis scored on a free kick from nearly 30 yards out to put UAlbany in the lead, 2-1. The Great Danes made it 3-1 in the 64th minute after Madison Hnis sent a perfect ball to Stowell, who buried it for the first goal of her career.
 
Following Saturday's win, head coach Sade Ayinde went on to say, "It always feels great to get a win at home! We responded well from being down a goal … [I am] really proud of our group for working together to pull out a result."
 
Facing a powerful opponent in Monmouth, the Great Danes fell to 1-1 on the season. The Hawks earned a shutout win over UAlbany in the second game of 2024.
 
New Faces
Two transfers joined the 2024 squad in March - midfielder Sina Anger and defender Madison Wisheart. Anger, a Holle, Germany native, joins the Great Danes after spending time with UNC Asheville. Wisheart, from Whitesboro, N.Y., joins after playing for Sacred Heart.
 
Class of 2028
In early June, head coach Sade Ayinde announced the addition of 10 new freshmen ahead of the season. The first-year athletes come from four different states (New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) and a Canadian province (Ontario).
 
The newcomers consist of forwards Jill Lindner and Ava Incorvaia, midfielders Carsyn Boyer, Mariella Fulcher, Hailey Moriarty, and Sydney Waits, defenders Alexis Gordon, Caroline Tomas, and Meredith Blannett, and goalkeeper Claudia Volino.
 
At the time of the announcement, Ayinda said "I am so excited to welcome in this group of wonderful and talented young women. In this recruiting class, Gabe [Kleinert] and I were focused on adding depth to all the lines as well as adding good people that we thought would fit with our returning group. With representations from different cities, all within six hours of driving distance of campus, different clubs that compete in some of the top leagues in the US and Canada, and different personalities that will add to our locker room and on the field, this group will bring lots of new, fresh, and diverse energy. As a staff, we are eager to see the immediate and long-term impact of these 10 student-athletes. Welcome to the Capital Region!"
 
2024 Schedule
The Great Danes began the season with two games at home - LIU and Monmouth. Sunday's contest at Fordham is the first of five consecutive matchups on the road. Fordham will be followed by Quinnipiac, St. John's, Holy Cross, and Colgate. The team wraps up non-conference action on September 16 with a home game against crosstown rival, Siena.
 
"We believe that our non-conference opponents will help us prepare to compete right away in conference play and into November," said Ayinde. "It will be a tough, competitive fall, but we look forward to playing in front of family, friends, fans, alumni, and the rest of the Albany community." 
 
America East action starts on September 22 with a road trip to UMBC. Home conference games for the season include matchups with Bryant (Sept. 29), UMass Lowell (Oct. 6), NJIT (Oct. 13), and Binghamton (Oct. 31).
 
New Turf, Who Dis?
The season-opening game marked the first official contest played on the new turf for Bob Ford Field which was installed over the summer.
 
The new playing surface features updated branding at midfield and in both end zones, replacing the original turf that had been in use since the stadium's construction in 2013. The turf project began in late June and was finished in time for soccer preseason practices. The project was completed by Sprinturf, LLC.
 
Unlike the original turf, yardage markers and numbers were not included with the updated surface. The department will utilize a painting system to install necessary markers before home contests to keep a "clean" look when switching between sports.
 
"This is just another project that shows the continued growth and investment in this university," said Ayinde. "Our team is grateful to have a new and improved training and competition stage that will hopefully be home to many wins across all sports."
 
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