ALBANY, N.Y. – Fresh off their first win of the year, the University at Albany women's soccer program returns to the road for a showdown at La Salle this weekend.
 
Game Info
Sunday, September 4 at La Salle (1:00 pm)
Live Stats | ESPN+
 
Leading the Pack

• UAlbany leads the America East in shots taken
• Sahara Zingano leads the America East in shots taken and shots taken per game, and is tied for second in assists
• Emily Jozak ranks tied for second in the conference with three goals scored and tied for third with six points following her hat trick against Rider
• La Salle is 1-1-0 at home this season and went 3-3-1 at home in 2021

Scouting La Salle
La Salle is 4-1-0 on the season so far, but have split their last two since opening on a three-game winning streak.  The Explorers have won by shutout in three of their four early-season victories.  For the second-straight season, La Salle was picked to finish sixth in the Atlantic-10 Preseason Poll, after going 6-9-2 in 2021.  Three Explorers, Kelli McGroarty, Haley Gschrey, and Courtney Butlion, have each scored two goals in five games.  UAlbany has gone 1-1 in two Division I-era meetings against the Explorers, with each team winning on the other's home field.
 
Last Time vs. La Salle
In only their second meeting of UAlbany's Division I era, La Salle defeated the Great Danes 3-0 in Albany.  The Explorers scored once in the first half, in the 23rd minute, and then twice after halftime, back-to-back in the 55th and 57th minutes. 
 
Last Time Out
UAlbany hosted Rider for their second home game of 2022, and fifth game of the season, having dropped each of their first four without scoring a goal.  Emily Jozak changed that, scoring three goals in 10 in-game minutes after the Great Danes fell behind the Broncs 1-0.  The Great Dane offense committed to aggressive play, outshooting Rider 29-7 overall.  The win, UAlbany's first of the season, was also the first career victory for head coach Sade Ayinde, as well as goalkeeper Megan Hart.
 
Around the America East
With the victory over Rider, UAlbany excised itself as the lone remaining winless team in the America East this season.  Maine, who plays Quinnipiac on Saturday, remains unbeaten and atop the standings at 3-0-1 overall.  UMBC trails in second at 3-1-1.  Three other teams, New Hampshire, Vermont, and UMass Lowell, each have two victories.  NJIT is 1-1-3, and Binghamton is 1-3-1.  America East newcomer Bryant shares UAlbany's 1-4-0 record.
 
Sunday's America East Games

• Lafayette at NJIT, 12:00 pm
• UAlbany at La Salle, 1:00 pm
• Rhode Island at Vermont, 1:00 pm
• Holy Cross at Bryant, 2:00 pm
• UMass Lowell at UMass, 3:00 pm
• LIU at UMBC, 4:00 pm

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 37-16-4 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 an unbeaten 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: UAlbany hosts Cornell on September 7.