ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany women's soccer team closes the 2022 regular season on the road at defending America East regular season and tournament champion Vermont.
 
Game Info
Thursday, October 27 at Vermont (6:00 pm)
Live Stats | ESPN+
 
Leading the Pack

• UAlbany is 2-5-0 on the road this season; Vermont is 1-5-1 at home
• Vermont ranks fifth in the America East in scoring offense; UAlbany ranks sixth
• UAlbany ranks fifth in the America East in scoring defense; Vermont ranks seventh
• UAlbany has won eight of the last 11 against Vermont, but has lost each of the last two
• Sahara Zingano leads the America East in shots taken and shots per game
• Emily Jozak ranks tied for third in goals scored
• Selma Elverum ranks tied for third in assists
• Megan Hart ranks third in total saves

Scouting Vermont
The Catamounts are the America East's defending regular-season and tournament champions from a year ago, just their second and first such conference titles, respectively.  This season, Vermont is eighth in the America East standings, with a 0-5-2 record against conference opponents and a 4-9-2 record overall.  The Catamounts were picked to finish second in the 2022 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll, just behind preseason favorite UMass Lowell.  UAlbany is 12-13-1 since the 1999 season against the Catamounts, and has won eight of the last 11 meetings.
 
Last Time vs. Vermont
November 4, 2021 | UAlbany ended the 2021 season in the America East semifinal round, falling to eventual champion Vermont in Burlington 3-1.  The Catamounts, who defeated UAlbany in Albany 2-0 during the regular season, scored three-straight after Jasmine Colbert put UAlbany ahead with a penalty kick in the 21st minute.  UAlbany reached the semifinal round by clinching a spot in the postseason after defeated then-two-seed Binghamton, which earned the Great Danes a home game, where they defeated the Bearcats for the second time in four days.
 
Last Time Out
The Great Danes hosted their final game of the 2022 regular season against their former America East rival Hartford.  The Hawks have withdrawn from America East membership and are competing as a Division I independent team this season.  Hartford had won nine of its 12 games before visiting UAlbany, and saw leading scorer Imani Jenkins record 14 goals to rank among the nation's leaders.  UAlbany claimed a 1-0 victory behind freshman Emily Jozak's seventh goal of the season in the 81st minute, coming off a setup from Charlotte Takacsy.
 
Around the America East
With one game remaining in the 2022 regular season, five of the six playoff spots have been secured.  The top three teams in the conference, New Hampshire, Binghamton, and Maine, each have 16 points, with UMass Lowell sitting fourth with 13 points and UAlbany fifth with 11 points.  UMBC and NJIT are currently tied for sixth with five points each, followed by Bryant with three points and Vermont with two points.  Neither Bryant nor Vermont have recorded a conference victory yet.
 
Thursday's America East Games

• NJIT at Bryant, 3:00 pm
• Binghamton at UMBC, 6:00 pm
• UAlbany at Vermont, 6:00 pm
• New Hampshire at UMass Lowell, 7:00 pm

Common Opponents

• New Hampshire
  • UAlbany: 9/18 at New Hampshire, W, 2-1
  • Vermont: 10/16 at New Hampshire, L, 0-1
• UMass Lowell
  • UAlbany: 9/25 vs. UMass Lowell, W, 1-0
  • Vermont: 9/29 at UMass Lowell, L, 3-4
• Bryant
  • UAlbany: 9/29 vs. Bryant, T, 1-1
  • Vermont: 9/25 at Bryant, T, 1-1
• Maine
  • UAlbany: 10/2/ at Maine, L, 0-1
  • Vermont: 10/9 vs. Maine, L, 2-3
• UMBC
  • UAlbany: 10/9 at UMBC, L, 0-1
  • Vermont: 9/18 vs. UMBC, T, 0-0
• Binghamton
  • UAlbany: 10/13 vs. Binghamton, L, 1-3
  • Vermont: 10/2 vs. Binghamton, L, 1-6
• NJIT
  • UAlbany: 10/16 vs. NJIT, T, 1-1
  • Vermont: 10/23 at NJIT, L, 1-2
• Hartford
  • UAlbany: 10/20 vs. Hartford, W, 1-0
  • Vermont: 10/5 vs. Hartford, W, 1-0

Clinched
With their 1-1 draw against NJIT, the Great Danes increased their season points total to 11 points and secured their spot in the 2022 America East Tournament.  It will mark UAlbany's 12th postseason appearance since 2009, during which time the Great Danes are 12-7-1 in conference tournament games overall.
 
Seniors
The Great Danes will recognize the five seniors on the 2022 roster in a short ceremony before the game against NJIT: Tiffany Bernot, Savannah Edwards, Natasha Fowler-Varon, Marisa Tava, and Savannah Edwards.  Collectively, the quintet has gone 25-27-9 overall with one America East regular season title in 2019.
 
Defensive Player of the Week
Megan Hart earned her first-ever America East weekly award following her performance in the Great Danes' 1-0 victory over America East preseason favorite UMass Lowell.  Hart recorded five total saves against the River Hawks, including one on a penalty kick in the 10th minute, and earned her first career shutout, powering the Great Danes' second conference win of the season.
 
Rookie of the Week III
Emily Jozak won her third America East Rookie of the Week award in four weeks following her game-winning goal against preseason America East favorite UMass Lowell.  When UAlbany drew a corner kick in the 56th minute, Jozak successfully navigated a scrum of UMass Lowell defenders to redirect Tiffany Bernot's serve into the back of the River Hawks' net.  The goal was the only score of the game, giving UAlbany a 1-0 victory.
 
Offensive Player of the Week
Junior midfielder Olivia Piraino had a career game against New Hampshire to start the 2022 conference season.  Piraino scored a career-high two goals, one in each half, to power the Great Danes to victory over the 2021 America East finalists.  Her efforts earned Piraino her first-ever America East Offensive Player of the Week honor.
 
Road Win
In their fifth opportunity of the season, the UAlbany women's soccer team secured their first victory of the year away from home.  The Great Danes downed 2021 America East finalist New Hampshire in Wildcat Stadium by a final score of 2-1 behind two goals from junior midfielder Olivia Piraino.
 
Rookie of the Week II
Emily Jozak won her second-straight America East Rookie of the Week award after scoring one goal in UAlbany's 4-1 victory over Wagner at home.  Jozak brought her goals total to four on the season, maintaining her team lead and ranking tied for third among all America East scorers.
 
Rookie of the Week I
Following her big game against Rider, Emily Jozak was named America East Rookie of the Week.  Jozak's three goals matched the program's single-game record for goals and points in the Division I era, matching the mark set in 2017 by Mariah Williams against Maine.  Jozak is UAlbany's first Rookie of the Week winner since Cassie Coster was named Rookie and Defensive Player last October.
 
Record-Setting
The UAlbany women's soccer program record book required rewriting following the team's first victory of 2022, a 3-1 win over visiting Rider.  Freshman Emily Jozak recorded the program's second hat trick of the Division I era, matching Mariah Williams' single-game records with three goals and six points.  Additionally, the team's 29 total shots against the Broncs were tied for the sixth-highest in a single game in Division I program history, matching two previous efforts in 2019 against Maine and 2008 against UMBC.
 
First Win
Five games into her career as head coach at UAlbany, her first head coaching stint, Sade Ayinde recorded her first victory.  The Great Danes fell behind at home against Rider 1-0 but rallied and maintained their offensive pressure to score three times in 10 in-game minutes to knock off the Broncs 3-1.
 
Breaking Through
The Great Danes started the season slowly, dropping each of their first four games without scoring a goal in any.  In game five, at home against then 3-0-1 Rider, UAlbany finally found the back of the net in the 40th minute when Sahara Zingano connected with freshman Emily Jozak for Jozak's first career goal.  The score ended a run of more than 400 in-game minutes without a goal dating back to the final game of the 2021 season at Vermont in the America East semifinal round.
 
Picked Fifth
UAlbany was picked to finish fifth in the 2022 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll, after finishing the 2021 season fourth and advancing to the America East semifinal round.  It is the second-straight season in which the Great Danes were picked fifth.  UMass Lowell narrowly edged defending regular-season and conference champion Vermont for first-place in this season's poll.
 
Home Field
UAlbany has been excellent within the confines of Tom & Mary Casey Stadium for the better part of the last decade, boasting a 40-18-7 record at home since the start of the 2015 season, the year of the program's first America East title.  The Great Danes went 4-3-1 at home in 2021, and between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, UAlbany was 14-1-3, including a 2019 season in which they gave up just eight goals at home.
 
First Year
Sade Ayinde was hired on February 16, 2022 as UAlbany's 14th head women's soccer coach, and eighth during the program's Division I era.  She steps in for Leigh Howard, who oversaw the team for two seasons before moving on to work with the Special Olympics.  Ayinde was a standout at Maryland during her collegiate career, scoring 16 goals with 17 assists in 79 appearances over four seasons.  Her previous collegiate coaching stops include Stony Brook and, most recently, Yale, and she also works with the US National program.
 
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: The America East Tournament begins October 30 with the quarterfinal round.