ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany men's soccer team visits Colgate for its final non-conference game of the 2021 regular season.
 
Game Info
Tuesday, October 19 at Colgate (7:00 pm)
Live Stats | ESPN+
 
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 2-4-0 on the road this season
• Austin DaSilva ranks tied for third in the America East in assists (5)
• Carlos Tofern ranks third in shutouts (4)
• Colgate has scored two goals all season, and has not scored since September 29 against Holy Cross
• Colgate is 7-1-2 against UAlbany since 2004
• 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 

Scouting Colgate
Colgate is winless in 14 games this season and has been outscored by opponents 29-2.  The Raiders have been shut out 12 times, including seven-straight games from August 29 to September 29.  Currently, Colgate has not scored a goal in their last five games since September 29.  Colgate holds a 7-1-2 edge in the series over the last eight games, though UAlbany won most recently during the 2019 season.
 
Last Time vs. Colgate
UAlbany snapped a seven-game winless streak against Colgate in their most recent meeting during the 2019 season.  The Great Danes went off for three goals, first from Austin DaSilva on a penalty kick in the second minute, followed quickly by Haflidi Sigurdarson in the sixth.  Kao DaSilva scored in the 35th to push UAlbany's lead to 3-0 before halftime.  Neither team scored after the break.
 
Last Time Out
UAlbany suffered its first non-victory result at home this season, playing UMBC to a 1-1 draw in double-overtime while still remaining unbeaten at Casey Stadium.  The Great Danes had won each of its three previous overtime games, finishing against the Retrievers in their first tie of the season.  UMBC struck first in the 31st minute after some early, dangerous chances for the Great Danes came up short.  UMBC's goal came off a rebound off the post that landed at the feet of another Retriever in front of an open net.  UAlbany responded just four minutes later, when Giuliano Lucca, on a chaotic play in the box, caught UMBC goalkeeper Qantrell Jones out of position.  Neither team was able to score in the second half or overtime, despite UAlbany outshooting UMBC 21-9 overall.
 
Around the America East
New Hampshire remains atop the America East standings, but seen its winning streak come to a close with consecutive ties against Yale and Vermont.  The Catamounts, following the draw with the Wildcats, and UAlbany's tie against UMBC, remain tied for second with the Great Danes with 10 points each, three behind New Hampshire, and will play each other this weekend in Burlington.  Stony Brook narrowly trails in fourth with nine points, followed by UMBC with seven.  A three-way tie between Binghamton, Hartford, and UMass Lowell, each with six points, have the sixth and final postseason qualifying spot knotted up.
 
Common Opponents

• Lafayette
  • UAlbany: 9/10 vs. Lafayette, W, 1-0
  • Colgate: 10/2 at Lafayette, L, 0-1
• New Hampshire
  • UAlbany: 9/18 at #9 New Hampshire, L, 0-2
  • Colgate: 8/29 at #20 New Hampshire, L, 0-1

Tuesday's America East Games

• NJIT at Drexel, 5:00 pm
• Cornell at Binghamton, 7:00 pm
• Vermont at Dartmouth, 7:00 pm
• UAlbany at Colgate, 7:00 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 Vermont on October 23.