ALBANY, N.Y. – UAlbany women's soccer continues its early-season three-game road trip on Sunday at Cornell.
 
Game Info
Sunday, August 29 at Cornell (3:00 pm)
Live Stats | ESPN+
 
Leading the Pack

• 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
• Sunday's game will be Cornell's second since November, 2019
• Following the spring's unique two-division schedule, the America East returns to its normal round-robin format for the fall

Scouting Cornell
Due to the cancellation of the entire 2020 season, Cornell played its first game since November 9, 2019 on Friday, opening their 2021 season hosting Canisius and claiming a 2-0 victory.  The Big Red return one All-Ivy League representative in 2019 leading goal-scorer Ashley Durik.  Cornell opened 2019 4-0 but finished 0-10-1.  Two fifth-years, one senior, and one junior anchor Cornell's back four.  Cornell leads the all-time series against UAlbany 3-2-1.
 
Last Time vs. Cornell
UAlbany defeated Cornell 1-0 in their last meeting during the 2019 season in Albany.  Defender Hailey Summers scored her first career goal to clinch the victory for the Great Danes.  Summers collected the ball in the Cornell box on a broken play and ripped a shot to break the scoreless tie and seal the win in the 88th minute.  Goalkeeper Sophia Chen, making her fourth-straight start, recorded her second-straight shutout.  Collectively, UAlbany outshot Cornell 12-4, including 7-1 in the second half.
 
Last Time Out
UAlbany played its 2021 road opener at CCSU on Thursday, falling to the Blue Devils 2-1.  CCSU scored first, in the 10th minute, before UAlbany's Natasha Fowler-Varon knotted the game at one in the 21st.  The game remained tied until the 90th minute when CCSU found a gap in the UAlbany defense and scored to secure a 2-1 victory.  Despite CCSU holding a 14-7 total shots advantage, UAlbany put six shots on target, while CCSU managed only five.
 
Around the America East
Three teams in the America East, UMBC, Vermont, and Maine remain unbeaten through the early part of the season, while Hartford, Vermont, and Binghamton each have two victories.  Three teams, Stony Brook, UAlbany, and NJIT, still seek their first win.  Eight teams from the America East will play Sunday.
 
Sunday's America East Games

• UMBC at Towson, 1:00 pm
• Columbia at Stony Brook, 1:00 pm
• Binghamton at Temple, 1:00 pm
• Vermont at Dartmouth, 1:00 pm
• NJIT at Pitt, 1:00 pm
• Maine at Bryant, 1:00 pm
• UAlbany at Cornell, 3:00 pm
• New Hampshire at CCSU, 6:00 pm

Schedule Shakeup
Each of UAlbany's first three games on the 2021 calendar were adjusted 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.  Finally, the third game, at CCSU, was pushed back one hour to avoid excessive heat.
 
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).
 
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 through the 2021 spring season, the Great Danes are 33-14-4 at home.
 
Next: UAlbany concludes its road swing on Wednesday, September 1 at Quinnipiac.