ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany men's soccer team continues its three-game home stand with a visit from defending America East regular season champion New Hampshire on Friday.
 
Game Info
Friday, October 14 vs. RV New Hampshire (7:00 pm)
Live Stats | ESPN+ | Game Notes
 
Leading the Pack

• UAlbany is 2-1-2 at home this season; New Hampshire is 3-2-0 on the road
• New Hampshire leads the country in corner kicks per game
• Eight of the last nine games in the series have been decided by one goal or fewer
• New Hampshire ranks second in the America East in scoring defense and third in scoring offense
• Shafique Wilson ranks second in the America East in save percentage and third in saves per game and goals-against average
• New Hampshire's Jassem Koleilat ranks second in goals-against average
• The Wildcats are receiving votes in the latest United Soccer Coaches national poll 

Scouting New Hampshire
The Wildcats have been the America East's premier program for the last half-decade.  Starting with the 2018 season, New Hampshire has won three America East Tournament titles and at least a share of three America East regular-season titles.  Additionally, the Wildcats have qualified for each of the last five NCAA Tournament fields.  Last season, New Hampshire went 17-2-2 overall and rose as high as fourth in the United Soccer Coaches national poll.  The Wildcats were ranked ninth in this year's preseason national poll, and were once again picked as the favorite in the America East.  The Wildcats are 8-3-0 through 11 games so far this season, and have turned their fortunes around since starting 2-3-0 through five.  Since the start of the 2017 season, New Hampshire has gone 73-16-13 overall and 28-5-5 against America East opponents, and their last regular-season defeat against a conference foe came on November 1, 2019 at UAlbany.  UAlbany is 10-8-3 against New Hampshire since the 2001 season.  Last season's 2-0 Wildcat victory was the first game in the series decided by more than one goal since 2012, a span of eight games.
 
Last Time vs. New Hampshire
September 18, 2021 | UAlbany opened their 2021 America East schedule at three-time defending champion, preseason favorite, and national #9-ranked New Hampshire last Saturday.  The Great Danes and Wildcats had combined to win each of the last five America East titles, and had not played a game decided by more than one goal since 2012.  Saturday, the Wildcats got on the board early, in the seventh minute, and then again in the 79th, while locking down the UAlbany attack defensively to hold on for a 2-0 shutout victory to remain undefeated.
 
Last Time Out
UAlbany hosted Army West Point to kick off their season-long three-game home stand.  The Black Knights were given a straight red card on a hard slide tackle in the 26th minute and continued for the rest of the game with 10 players.  Despite the disadvantage, and despite UAlbany's pressure of 10 corner kicks and 61% possession, Army West Point drew a foul in UAlbany's box in the 66th minute and converted the ensuing PK to take a 1-0 lead, which would prove to be the final score.
 
Around the America East
Vermont has climbed to #12 in the United Soccer Coaches national poll, and has extended its winning streak to nine games, becoming the first America East program to hit the 10-win mark this season.  New Hampshire has won each of its last six games since starting the season 2-3-0 and are tied atop the conference standings with the Catamounts.  UAlbany is third, two points behind Vermont and New Hampshire, before a drop off to UMBC in fourth place with three points.  NJIT and Binghamton have two points, followed by UMass Lowell with one and Bryant with zero.
 
Friday's America East Games

• RV New Hampshire at UAlbany, 7:00 pm

Common Opponents

• Boston University
  • UAlbany: 8/25 vs. Boston University, T, 1-1
  • New Hampshire: 8/28 vs. Boston University, L, 0-1
• UMBC
  • UAlbany: 9/24 at UMBC, W, 1-0
  • New Hampshire: 10/1 vs. UMBC, W, 2-0
• Bryant
  • UAlbany: 10/1 vs. Bryant, W, 3-0
  • New Hampshire: 9/24 at Bryant, W, 4-1

Shutout
For three-straight games, and seven total halves, the men's soccer team did not concede a goal.  The Great Danes went 2-0-1 against UMBC, Bryant, and Binghamton, outscoring the three opponents 4-0.  In total, dating to the team's last goal conceded in the 86th minute at Rhode Island on September 20, until their next goal conceded, a penalty kick in the 66th minute against Army West Point on October 11, the Great Danes shutout streak lasted 340 game minutes.
 
Rookie of the Week
Jackson Finn scored the game-winner against the America East's top-scoring team, UMBC, on the road in the team's conference opener, and earned his first career weekly award.  The Retrievers had scored eight more goals than any other America East squad, but the Great Danes held UMBC scoreless over their 90-minute match.  Finn broke the scoreless tie late in the game, collecting a rebound against an open net after teammates Saad Faiz and Domenic Baumann took back-to-back shots to draw UMBC goalkeeper Quantrell Jones out of position.
 
Hall of Fame Semifinalist
The most prolific scorer in UAlbany men's soccer history, Lee Tschantret, was named a semifinalist to the National Soccer Hall of Fame's 2023 Veteran Ballot.  Tschantret played at UAlbany from 1987-90, scoring a program-record that still stands today 51 goals.  He earned All-America honors in 1988 and 1989, and after his collegiate season enjoyed a 20-year professional career.
 
Associate
Rich Nassif was promoted to Associate Head Coach in 2022, his fifth season on the sidelines at UAlbany.  Nassif joined UAlbany in 2018 following his second stint on the coaching staff at his alma mater, Northwestern University.  Since joining the Great Danes' sidelines, the team has averaged nine wins per full season and qualified for two America East tournaments.  Some of the Great Danes biggest wins with Nassif are Vermont in 2018 and 2019, #14 New Hampshire in 2019, Villanova in 2021, and Penn this season.
 
U.S. Open Cup
Former UAlbany goalkeeper Danny Vitiello and his Sacramento Republic FC team advanced to the championship game of the U.S. Open Cup against Orlando City SC of the MLS.  Sacramento was the first team from outside the MLS to reach the title game since Charleston Battery played against D.C. United in 2008.  Vitiello and Sacramento defeated three MLS teams en route to the final, the San Jose Earthquakes, the L.A. Galaxy, and Sporting Kansas City.  In the latter game, the semifinal, Vitiello recorded the decisive save in the penalty kick shootout to advance Sacramento to the final.  Sacramento's magic run ended against Orlando City, falling 3-0.
 
From the Field
When Saad Faiz scored his first goal of the season, in the 24th minute of the Great Danes' sixth game of the year, at Rutgers, it was the team's first goal scored from the field of the 2022 season.  All three of the Great Danes' previous goals were scored on penalty kicks.  Faiz's goal ended a drought of just over 520 minutes of game time since their previous goal from the field, in the 44th minute of the 2021 America East quarterfinal against NJIT.
 
Defensive Player of the Week
Daniel Shannon recorded his first career shutout and victory as UAlbany's goalkeeper in the Great Danes' fifth game of the year when they hosted the Penn Quakers.  Shannon faced a total of 21 shots and made four saves to keep the Quakers off the board and hold the 1-0 lead to victory.  Shannon is UAlbany's first defensive player of the week since former teammate Carlos Tofern was named on September 7, 2021.
 
Three-for-Three
Through five games, UAlbany scored three goals on the 2022 season.  Each goal came via penalty kick, first in the season opener against Boston University and second at Marist at the end of a three-game road swing.  Pantelis Panteli took each penalty kick for the Great Danes, making Panteli accountable for all UAlbany scoring through the early part of the season.  In the fifth game of the season, Domenic Baumann stepped in for Panteli on the Great Danes' PK against Penn and successfully converted the attempt, making UAlbany 3-3 on PKs on the season season.  Since then, the team added another PK, and are a perfect 4-4.
 
International Flavor
Continuing a tradition within the UAlbany men's soccer program under head coach Trevor Gorman, the 2022 Great Danes feature a sizeable international roster.  Thirteen countries are represented among UAlbany's ranks this season: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Germany, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United States.
 
New Faces
UAlbany welcomes 16 new players to the roster for the 2022 season, replacing 15 departures and bringing the team roster to a total of 30.  Though the Great Danes return second-leading scorer Andrew Weiner from last year, the members of the new class will fill in for the production left behind by the departures of the first, third, and fourth-leading scorers, a total of six goals and 11 assists.
 
Picked Fourth
After finishing the 2021 regular season third in the America East standings, the Great Danes were picked to finish fourth in the league's 2022 preseason coaches' poll.  Behind unanimous favorite New Hampshire, picked to win the league for the fourth-straight season, the distribution tightened up.  Defending tournament champion Vermont was picked second just two points ahead of third-pick UMBC, and five points ahead of UAlbany.  NJIT was picked fifth, ahead of Binghamton and UMass Lowell in a tie for sixth, with conference newcomer Bryant picked eighth.
 
Game Over
Adopted starting this season, regular-season matches will no longer go into extra time when tied at the conclusion of regulation.  The regular-seasons games will conclude after 90 minutes of play.  Overtime and shootouts will return starting in the postseason.
 
Next: UAlbany closes its three-game home stand on October 18 against Colgate, the team's final non-conference opponent of the 2022 regular season.