ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany continues its path through the America East, hosting UMBC as the first leg of a double-header with the women's team.
 
Game Info
Sunday, October 17 vs. UMBC (12:00 pm)
Live Stats | AE.tv
 
Leading the Pack

• UAlbany returns its five leading scorers from the 2021 spring season, including top scorer Adam Aoumaich (4 goals, 1 assist) and 2019 America East Striker of the Year Austin DaSilva (2 goals, three assists)
• UAlbany's roster features 15 new players
• UAlbany is 6-0-0 at home this season
• UMBC will play on the road for the first time since October 2, a span of three games
• UMBC ranks second in the America East in scoring offense
• UMBC's Taylor Calheira leads the America East with nine goals
• After utilizing a unique three-pod scheduling format during the spring 2021 season, the America East will return to its regular round-robin format for the fall
• Sunday's doubleheader features the women's team playing UMBC at 3:00 pm

Scouting UMBC
UMBC has bounced back from a three-game skid by going 2-1-0 over their last three games with victories over Howard and Binghamton around a loss to Stony Brook.  The Retrievers were picked to finish sixth in the 2021 America East Preseason Coaches Poll, rounding out a cluster of three schools, including UAlbany, separated by three total points.  Since 2013, spanning a period of 10 matches, UAlbany is 3-4-3 against UMBC, but is 6-1-2 at home against the Retrievers since 2003.
 
Last Time vs. UMBC
UAlbany last played UMBC during the 2021 spring season, falling to the Retrievers on the road 1-0, snapping a three-game unbeaten streak in the series.  The game was scoreless in regulation before UMBC's Ryan Becher scored to seal the game for the Retrievers just 57 seconds into the first overtime period.  Carlos Tofern made six saves during the game, including three in the first 11 minutes to withstand UMBC's early onslaught, but UAlbany could not break through on the other end and was shut out for their third-straight game.
 
Last Time Out
UAlbany kicked off a two-game home stand against UMass Lowell on October 13, and defeated the River Hawks by a final score of 2-1.  The Great Danes found themselves in an early hole following a defensive miscue in the fourth minute that led to a River Hawk goal.  UAlbany tied the game in the 38th on a corner kick from Pantelis Panteli, redirected into the net by Neophytos Scottis.  After halftime, in the 81st minute, Haflidi Sigurdarson set up Saad Faiz to put UAlbany up 2-1 and clinch the victory.  For Scottis and Faiz, it was their first goal as members of the UAlbany program.
 
Around the America East
New Hampshire, now fourth in the United Soccer Coaches national poll, remains unbeaten this season at 12-0-1 and 4-0-0 in conference for 12 points.  Behind the Wildcats, UAlbany and Vermont are tied with nine points each.  New Hampshire will host Vermont on Saturday and UAlbany will visit the Catamounts on October 23.  Stony Brook also has nine points, but has played one more conference game than UAlbany and Vermont.  Binghamton and UMBC are tied for fifth with six points, while Hartford, UMass Lowell, and NJIT each have three points.
 
Common Opponents

• Hartford
  • UAlbany: 10/10 at Hartford, W, 1-0 (OT)
  • UMBC: 9/18 vs. Hartford, W, 3-0
• UMass Lowell
  • UAlbany: 10/13 vs. UMass Lowell
  • UMBC: 9/25 at UMass Lowell, L, 1-2 

Sunday's America East Games

• UMBC at UAlbany, 12:00 pm
• UMass Lowell at Stony Brook, 1:00 pm

First Timers
UAlbany's game against UMass Lowell, a 2-1 victory, featured two players scoring their first goals as Great Danes.  In the first half, in the 38th minute, Neophytos Scottis redirected a corner kick serve from Pantelis Panteli into the far side netting with his head to tie the game at one, after the River Hawks took advantage of a defensive miscue for UAlbany in the fourth minute to take an early lead.  Later, in the 81st, Saad Faiz ripped a rocket from the top corner of the box into the top netting, off a pass from Haflidi Sigurdarson, to put UAlbany up 2-1, which would prove to be the final score.
 
USC Regional
A split week with a loss at Dartmouth and an overtime victory at Hartford saw UAlbany fall two spots in the United Soccer Coaches Northeast poll.  In Week 7, the Great Danes rank seventh, down from their high of fourth in Weeks 2, 3, and 5.  New Hampshire, who remains undefeated, still holds the top spot in the regional rankings.   Three other America East schools, Vermont (4), Binghamton (5), and Stony Brook (9) each earned spots in the Northeast top-10.

• Week 7: 7th
• Week 6: 5th
• Week 5: 4th
• Week 4: 9th
• Week 3: 4th
• Week 2: 4th
• Week 1: 5th 

Team Academic
The United Soccer Coaches announced its honorees for Team Academic honors from the 2020-21 season, and the UAlbany men once again made the list.  Head coach Trevor Gorman's squad during the last school year recorded a cumulative GPA of 3.34.  To qualify for the recognition, a team needs to record a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher.
 
Game-Winner
Another tight game for the Great Danes went into overtime against Rhode Island.  UAlbany overcame their first-half scoring struggles, putting one away in the sixth minute and again in the 45th right before the break.  Rhode Island tied the game a two in the 73rd, ultimately forcing overtime.  In the 105th, Austin DaSilva, 2019 America East Striker of the Year, scored his first goal of the season to clinch the golden-goal victory for the Great Danes over the Rams.
 
Shutouts
In their first seven games to start the 2021 season, each game UAlbany played included a shutout.  In victories, UAlbany had not allowed a goal, winning four games by a score of 1-0.  And in defeats, UAlbany had not scored, falling 3-0 at St. John's, 4-0 at Hofstra, and most recently 2-0 at #9 New Hampshire.  UAlbany had not scored a goal in the first half this season, and have not scored a goal earlier than the 62nd minute, with their average goal coming in the 81st minute.  Both streaks were broken against Rhode Island, a 3-2, double-overtime victory for the Great Danes during which they scored their first goal in the sixth minute.
 
To the Wire
One game after defeating Marist in the 99th minute, and after playing Lafayette to a scoreless tie for 89 minutes, the Great Danes broke through to defeat the Leopards 1-0 with three seconds remaining in regulation.  A serve in to Austin DaSilva from midfield was redirected to Adam Aoumaich.  Aoumaich played the ball into the middle of the Lafayette box to Giuliano Lucca, whose shot tipped the Lafayette goalkeepers fingers and fell into the right side netting for the win.
 
Defensive Player of the Week
UAlbany goalkeeper Carlos Tofern was named America East Defensive Player of the Week on September 7, earning his first-ever weekly award from the conference and the team's first weekly award of the season.  Tofern recorded six saves in the Great Danes' shutout victory at Villanova.  At the time of his award, Tofern was 2-1-0 on the season with two shutouts.
 
Three-for-Three
Through UAlbany's first four games of the 2021 fall season, and three Great Dane victories, Haflidi Sigurdarson has accounted for each UAlbany goal scored.  He scored the game-winner in a 1-0 victory in the season opener against Fairfield, off assists from Andrew Weiner and Giuliano Lucca, and then scored on a penalty kick to knock off Villanova.  Most recently, Sigurdarson scored the game-winner in the 99th minute to seal an overtime victory over Marist.
 
Picked Fourth
The Great Danes were picked fourth in the 2021 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.  Three-time defending champion New Hampshire was picked as the unanimous favorite, ahead of Vermont and NJIT.  UAlbany edged out a pack of four teams separated by a total of five points: UAlbany (33), UMass Lowell (31), UMBC (30), and Hartford (28).
 
Familiar Foes
Due to the America East's implementation of a unique three-pod scheduling format for the 2021 spring season, UAlbany played six conference games against a total of four conference opponents (Binghamton, Hartford, UMBC, and Vermont).  This season, the Great Danes will return to their full round-robin conference slate to once again play every other team in the America East, including three-time defending champion New Hampshire, as well as the first-ever game against NJIT as a conference opponent.
 
New Look
Despite returning its top five scorers from the 2021 spring season, the fall 2021 Great Danes feature 15 new players on the roster.  The new recruits hail from a total of seven countries, including the United States, adding to the diverse background that already exists within Coach Gorman's program.
 
Finishing Strong
After starting the 2021 spring season 0-4-1, the Great Danes rallied down the stretch to win three of their final four games of the season by a total score of 8-3.  UAlbany claimed victory over both of its pod opponents, Binghamton and postseason-bound Hartford during the stretch, avenging earlier-season losses to both squads.
 
Next: UAlbany visits Colgate on October 19 for its final non-conference game of the 2021 regular season.