ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany men's soccer team returns to action after a 10-day hiatus to visit Ivy League opponent Dartmouth.
 
Game Info
Tuesday, October 5 at Dartmouth (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
• Dartmouth is 3-1-0 against UAlbany in their last four meetings
• 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 Dartmouth
Dartmouth is 0-7-0 this season after not playing in 2020-21 due to COVID-19.  The Big Green, in 2019, went 6-8-2.  This year, Darmouth played its first six games on the road, only just hosting their home opener on October 2, a 3-2 loss to Ivy League opponent Princeton.  Dartmouth has suffered four shutout defeats so far this season, and is being outscored by opponents 16-5.  The Big Green, earning one first-place vote, were picked to finish fifth in the 2021 Ivy League Preseason Coaches' Poll.  Dartmouth returns just one of its top six scorers from the 2019 team in junior forward David Alino.  Dartmouth won at least a share of four-straight Ivy League titles from 2014-17.
 
Last Time vs. Dartmouth
UAlbany has played Dartmouth four times since the 2013 season, earning their first victory against the Big Green in that time during their last meeting, in the 2019 season.  UAlbany defeated Dartmouth 4-2, and four Great Danes contributed goals.  Niklas Roessler scored first in the 29th, followed by Reid Conde on a penalty kick in the 31st.  Austin DaSilva scored immediately after halftime in the 48th, and Haflidi Sigurdarson put the finishing touches on the Great Danes' scoring in the 53rd.
 
Last Time Out
UAlbany played its second America East game of the season, and first against NJIT as conference opponents.  The Great Danes defeated the Highlanders in their first conference meeting 2-1.  UAlbany scored first on an odd play where the NJIT defense stopped playing, assuming UAlbany was offsides.  Adam Aoumaich ended up alone in front of the Highlanders' goalkeeper and scored uncontested.  Soon after, NJIT scored on a deflection into the goal from a UAlbany defender.  UAlbany clinched the game in the 68th when Andrew Weiner broke past the Highlander defense on a through ball and beat the charging Highlander goalie.
 
Around the America East
New Hampshire remains undefeated, now at 11-0-0, and 3-0-0 in-conference.  Binghamton is second at 7-2-0 overall and 2-0-0 against America East opponents.  UAlbany is tied for third with Vermont, with both teams holding 1-1-0 conference records.  New Hampshire leads the conference in both scoring offense, scoring 2.36 goals per game, and scoring defense, allowing 0.36 goals per game.  The Wildcats have climbed to #3 in the Top Drawer Soccer national poll.
 
Common Opponents
None
 
Tuesday's America East Games

• Loyola at NJIT, 7:00 pm
• Yale at Hartford, 7:00 pm
• UAlbany at Dartmouth, 7:00 pm
• Bucknell at Binghamton, 7:00 pm

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.
 
USC Regional
After falling to ninth in the Week 4 poll, the Great Danes, following victories over Rhode Island and NJIT, jumped right back up to fourth, their high-water mark to this point in the season, in the Week 5 poll.  New Hampshire, who remains undefeated, still hold the top spot in the regional rankings.   Three other America East schools, Binghamton (6), Stony Brook (7), and Vermont (8) each earned spots in the Northeast top-10.

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

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: Visits Hartford on October 9.