ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany women's soccer team returns to Casey Stadium on Wednesday for a showdown with in-state rival Cornell.
 
Game Info
Wednesday, September 7 vs. Cornell (7:00 pm)
Live Stats | AE.tv
 
Leading the Pack

• UAlbany is 1-1-0 at home this season; Cornell is 0-2-0 on the road
• The Great Danes are 1-0-2 in the last three meetings against the Big Red
• Sahara Zingano leads the America East in shots taken and shots per game, and ranks tied for second in assists
• Emily Jozak ranks tied for third in goals scored and tied for fourth in total points

Scouting Cornell
Cornell is 1-3-0 on the season so far, most recently ending a three-game, season-opening losing streak with a 2-1 victory over Villanova.  The Big Red went 3-11-2 in 2021, and went winless in eight matches on the road.  Despite the lopsided record, Cornell scored 14 goals last season, their highest total since scoring 16 in 2015.  UAlbany is 2-3-2 against Cornell in the program's Division I era.
 
Last Time vs. Cornell
For their meeting in 2021, the Great Danes visited a Cornell team that was playing just its second game since November, 2019, following the Ivy League's cancellation of the 2020 season.  Sophia Eifler put UAlbany ahead early, scoring her first goal of the season and third of her career, before Cornell came back to tie the game and take the lead on a pair of goals 10 minutes apart.  After halftime, Jasmine Colbert scored from deep in the 71st minute to tie the game and force overtime, during which period neither team broke through and UAlbany came away with a 2-2 draw.
 
Last Time Out
Selma Elverum scored her first career goal for UAlbany just five minutes into the Great Danes' match on the road against La Salle.  Elverum scored UAlbany's fourth goal of the season, and became UAlbany's second goal-scorere after Emily Jozak accounted for all three UAlbany goals in the team's previous game against Rider.  La Salle regrouped, however, controlling 59% of possession in the first half and outshooting UAlbany 19-5 overall.  The Explorers scored twice after halftime to take a 2-1 victory.
 
Around the America East
No undefeated teams remain in the America East, with Maine dropping their first game of the season to fall to 3-1-1 overall.  The Black Bears were supplanted atop the standings by UMBC who now lead at 4-1-1.  NJIT has recorded four ties this season in third at 1-1-4, followed by preseason favorite UMass Lowell at 2-3-1.  The River Hawks sit just ahead of New Hampshire and defending regular season and tournament champion Vermont, each at 2-3-0.  Binghamton, Bryant, and UAlbany each have recorded one victory.
 
Wednesday's America East Games

• University of New Brunswick at Maine, 6:00 pm
• Cornell at UAlbany, 7:00 pm

Rookie of the Week
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 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 Wagner on September 11 before America East play begins September 18 at New Hampshire.