ALBANY, N.Y. – With five games to go in the 2021 regular season, UAlbany women's soccer visits first-place UMass Lowell ahead of its final home stand next week.
 
Game Info
Sunday, October 10 at UMass Lowell (2:00 pm)
Live Stats | AE.tv
 
Leading the Pack

• Six Great Danes have scored a goal this season, and four have recorded an assist
• UAlbany returns five All-Conference players from the spring season, including spring Strike of the Year Jasmine Colbert
• Colbert led UAlbany with five goals in the spring, all five of which were game-winners
• UAlbany also returns defensive starters Hailey Summers and Sophia Eifler, and goalkeeper Sophia Chen, alongside spring All-Rookie selections Olivia Piraino and Margot Nezaj
• Jasmine Colbert leads the America East in shots taken (49), 13 more than second place, and ranks tied for second in goals scored (6), and fourth in total points (13)
• UMass Lowell's Ioanna Papatheodorou leads the America East with eight goals scored and 16 total points
• UMass Lowell is hosting UAlbany for the first time since September 30, 2018, with each of the last three games in the series being played in Albany
• Following the spring's unique two-division schedule, the America East returns to its normal round-robin format for the fall

Scouting UMass Lowell
The Riverhawks have taken over first place in the America East from Hartford, which has tied UAlbany and lost to Binghamton in their last two games, despite retaining the top overall record in the conference.  The Riverhawks have won each of their last four games, and six out of their last seven, since starting the season 1-2-1.  UMass Lowell's Ioanna Papatheodorou leads the conference in total goals with eight, and total points with 16, and the Riverhawks rank fourth in the conference in both scoring offense and scoring defense.  Since meeting UAlbany in the 2018 America East title game, a 5-1 victory for the Great Danes, UAlbany and UMass Lowell have split the series.
 
Last Time vs. UMass Lowell
UAlbany hosted UMass Lowell during the 2021 spring season with the Riverhawks taking a 2-1 victory, handing UAlbany their final loss of the spring before the Great Danes closed on a two-game winning streak.  UMass Lowell scored in the 17th minute and took a 1-0 lead into halftime.  After the break, Jada Colbert scored the equalizer in the 63rd minute on a shot from 25 yards out.  The Riverhakws regrouped, however, and scored once again in the 81st minute to claim the 2-1 victory.
 
Last Time Out
UAlbany secured its first America East victory of the season, defeating visiting Maine 1-0 and ending a streak of three-straight 1-1, double-overtime draws.  Jasmine Colbert scored her sixth goal of the season, in the 33rd minute, off a setup from Sophia Eifler at the top of the Maine box.  The team also celebrated their annual Pride game, an extension of the America East's Spread Respect initiative, to raise awareness about diversity and inclusion in collegiate athletics.
 
Around the America East
UMass Lowell has taken over the top spot in the America East standings and remains undefeated in conference play at 4-0-0.  Former first-place team, Hartford, while still retaining the top overall record, has fallen to third after tying UAlbany and losing to Binghamton, the latter of which now sits second behind the Riverhawks.  UAlbany, with their first conference victory, has climbed to seventh.  Both Hartford and Binghamton allow fewer than one goal per game
 
Common Opponents

• New Hampshire
  • UAlbany: 9/26/21 vs. New Hampshire, T, 1-1 (2OT)
  • UMass Lowell: 9/30/21 at New Hampshire, W, 2-1

Sunday's America East Games

• Vermont at Hartford, 12:00 pm
• Stony Brook at Maine, 12:00 pm
• UMBC at New Hampshire, 1:00 pm
• Binghamton at NJIT, 1:00 pm
• UAlbany at UMass Lowell, 2:00 pm

Tying Up
For three games in a row, at Siena, vs. New Hampshire, and at Hartford, the Great Danes recorded a result of a 1-1, double-overtime tie.  In the first two games, UAlbany took the lead and let up the equalizer later, and against Hartford, the first-place Hawks scored first only for UAlbany to respond and force overtime.  The streak ended at home against Maine, a 1-0 victory.  An additional streak for the Great Danes remains active, six straight games scoring exactly one goal.
 
Streak Ender
With her unassisted goal in the 62nd minute at Hartford, Jada Colbert ended a streak where the Hawks had not conceded a goal at home to that point in the season.  Hartford had not allowed a goal at home for 361 total minutes, into their fifth home game, before Colbert found the back of the net.  The last goal Hartford conceded at home was in the 14th minute of the game against New Hampshire by Ally Reynolds on October 20, 2019, since the Hawks did not play in the 2021 spring season, adding 291 minutes to their streak dating to that game.
 
Breaking Through
The Great Danes' first victory of the season came in their fifth game, against Yale, and featured a barrage of scoring with both teams combining for a total of seven goals.  UAlbany defeated the Bulldogs 4-3, scoring three goals in the second half.  Yale scored within the first two minutes, in what looked like the start of a repeat of the last meeting between the two teams in 2019 when Yale won 4-0.  UAlbany tied the game before halftime however, before ceding another goal to the Bulldogs shortly after the second half.  UAlbany scored the next three goals, including an own-goal from Yale to go up 4-2, before Yale scored on a PK to cut the lead to one.  The Bulldogs earned three corner kicks in the final minute of the game, the second of which nearly resulted in an equalizer if not for UAlbany goalkeeper Sophia Chen turning it away.
 
Schedule Shakeup
Four of UAlbany's first five games on the 2021 calendar have required adjustments from their original plans.  The opener at Syracuse was cancelled due to inclement weather.  The second game, the home opener against Hofstra, was moved up two hours to avoid weather from Tropical Storm Henri.  The third game, at CCSU, was pushed back one hour to avoid excessive heat.  Most recently, the team's road game at Quinnipiac was cancelled due to inclement weather.
 
Top Drawer Soccer Preseason America East Top-20

• Jasmine Colbert – 2
• Hailey Summers – 4
• Olivia Piraino - 20

Picked Fifth
The Great Danes were picked to finish fifth in the 2021 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.  UAlbany drew 52 points in fifth place behind two-time defending conference champion and unanimous favorite Stony Brook.  The Seawolves pulled in 81 total points and all nine possible first-place votes.  UMass Lowell was second, garnering the final first-place vote and 67 total points.  Binghamton (61) and New Hampshire (52) were picked just ahead of UAlbany.  Behind the Great Danes, perennial power Hartford was picked sixth with 50 points, followed by Vermont (28), Maine and NJIT (20), and UMBC (17).
 
Captains
The UAlbany women's soccer team features three captains for the 2021-22 season in goalkeeper Sophia Chen, midfielder Sophia Eifler, and defender Hailey Summers.  Each was a sophomore on the team for UAlbany's most recent America East title in 2018, and each has elected to utilize their additional year of eligibility to return to UAlbany this season.
 
Colbert Connection
Three times in their careers, twin sisters Jada and Jasmine Colbert connected on a goal.  Jasmine set up Jada for the first goal of the 2019 game against UMass Lowell.  Earlier in the 2019 season, against St. Francis Brooklyn, the twins connected for the first time in their UAlbany careers, when Jada set up Jasmine to put UAlbany up 2-0 right after halftime.  Most recently, the twins connected when Jada set up Jasmine for the game-winner against Stony Brook in the spring 2021 season.
 
Home Field
The Great Danes finished the 2019 regular season unbeaten at home, going 6-0-2, before falling at home in the America East semifinals.  UAlbany went 8-1-1 at Casey Stadium in 2018, including quarterfinal and championship victories in the America East Tournament.  The Great Danes let up just eight goals in 10 games at home in 2019, and just two in the last five.  Dating back to the 2015 season, the year of the program's first America East title, and to date in the 2021 fall season, the Great Danes are 35-15-4 at home.
 
Next: UAlbany hosts Vermont on October 14.