ALBANY, N.Y. – The UAlbany women's soccer team will play its final two home games in non-conference play, hosting Seton Hall on Thursday, September 8th at 7 p.m. and Sunday, September 11th at 1 p.m. at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium.
Attendance to both games in free to the public. In addition, both contests will be streamed online for free on AmericaEast.tv.
UAlbany and Seton Hall met for the first time ever last season, with the Pirates winning 1-0 in double overtime in New Jersey. UAlbany earned its first victory in four chances against Quinnipiac last year, winning 4-1 in Connecticut. Both opponents are playing at Casey Stadium for the first time.
UAlbany split its games last week, defeating Rhode Island 2-1 in overtime and falling at Marist 2-1, to enter Thursday at 2-4 overall. Seton Hall is trying to snap a two-game losing streak, falling to Monmouth 1-0 on Sunday, and has a 2-3 record. Quinnipiac, which will play Bryant on Wednesday, will enter the week at 3-1-1 overall after a 6-2 home win over Delaware State.
UALBANY PREDICTED TO FINISH FIRST IN AMERICA EAST: For the first time in program history, UAlbany has been predicted to finish first in the America East in the 2016 season in the preseason coaches poll. The defending America East champion picked up six first-place votes from the league's head coaches. Hartford got the other three first place votes and placed second while Maine is at third.
RACE TO UALBANY ALL-TIME ASSISTS LEADER: Three Great Danes are within striking distance of the all-time assists record at UAlbany. The current record holder is Krista Fitzpatrick, who notched 14 assists from 2012-15.
Kiana Rugar stands second in UAlbany history with 13 career assists, including a single season program record seven in 2014 and notching an assist against Army. Tied for third all-time at 10 are UAlbany seniors Alexa Schneider and Caitlyn Paltsios.
SCHNEIDER, PALTSIOS TO SERVE AS TEAM CAPTAINS: UAlbany seniors Alexa Schneider and Caitlyn Paltsios will be the team captains for the 2016 season. Schneider will be a captain for the second straight season while Paltsios is a captain for the first time.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Senior midfielder Frankie Maier leads Seton Hall with nearly half the team's points, standing with two goals and an assist while freshmen forwards Marissa Aniolowski and Siobhan McGovern each have one goal. Sophomore Anna MacLean has started all five games in goal with a 77.8% save percentage and 1.17 goals allowed average.
Eight players have goals for Quinnipiac, with senior forward Sarah Pandolfi and sophomore forward Nadya Gill each having three goals and one assist. Freshman forward Ally Grunstein has a team-best three assists, adding two goals. The other way, four different players have played in goal, combining for a 1.31 goals allowed average.
