ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany women's soccer program plays its second home game of the new season, welcoming La Salle to Tom & Mary Casey Stadium on Sunday.
 
Game Info
August 20, 2023 vs. La Salle (3:00 pm)
Live Stats | ESPN+ | Game Notes
 
Leading the Pack

• UAlbany is 1-0-0 at home this season; La Salle is 0-0-0 on the road
• La Salle went 4-4-2 on the road in 2022
• UAlbany is 1-0-0 for the first time since 2016
• The Great Danes have scored at least one goal in eight-straight games 

Scouting La Salle
The Explorers dropped their season opener at home against Towson 2-1.  The Tigers scored twice in the first half and held La Salle off the board until the 85th minute.  Despite opening the season winning five of their first six games, La Salle went 8-8-2 in 2022 and missed out on the Atlantic-10 Tournament after going 3-6-1 in conference play.  The Explorers' roster features four of the team's top five scorers from 2022 as well as last season's starting goalkeeper.  In three meetings in the Division I era, UAlbany is 1-2-0 against La Salle.
 
Last Time vs. La Salle
September 4, 2022 | 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-scorer 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.
 
Last Time Out
After conceding a penalty kick in the opening minute of the season opener against Hofstra, the Great Danes rallied to score two goals in the second half to win their first season opener since 2016.  Emily Jozak scored UAlbany's first goal just after halftime, after leading the Great Danes in scoring in 2022.  Senior defender Charlotte Takacsy scored the team's go-ahead goal in the 71st minute, finding the back of the net for the first time in her career.  Finally, Megan Hart recorded a career-high 11 saves in goal.
 
Around the America East
All nine America East programs began their seasons on 2023's opening day.  Five of the teams, UAlbany, Maine, New Hampshire, Bryant, and UMBC, each secured victories in their openers.  NJIT earned the league's only tie of the day, while Binghamton, Vermont, and UMass Lowell suffered season-opening defeats.  All nine programs will play their second games of the season on Sunday.
 
Sunday's America East Games

• UMass Lowell at Fairfield, 1:00 pm
• Rhode Island at Maine, 1:00 pm
• Saint Peter's at NJIT, 1:00 pm
• New Hampshire at Minnesota, 1:00 pm
• Bryant at Stony Brook, 1:00 pm
• Canisius at Binghamton, 2:00 pm
• Merrimack at Vermont, 2:00 pm
• La Salle at UAlbany, 3:00 pm
• Longwood at UMBC, 4:00 pm

First Time
In the first game of her senior-year season, the 42nd appearance of her career, defender Charlotte Takacsy scored her first career goal as a Great Dane.  Takacsy capitalized on a rebound following a serve from a corner kick to put UAlbany up 2-1 over Hofstra in the 71st minute of the season opener and clinch the game for the Great Danes.
 
Backloaded
During the 2022 season, UAlbany scored 26 total goals in 20 games, for an average of 1.30 goals per game.  However, the Great Danes were shut out in each of their first four games of the season, and subsequently scored their 26 goals in the final 16 games, for an average of 1.63 goals per game.
 
Rookie of the Year
After leading the Great Danes in scoring, freshman forward Emily Jozak was named the 2022 America East Rookie of the Year.  Jozak led UAlbany in 2022 with seven goals, ranking in a tie for third-highest total in the America East.  Jozak was also named America East Rookie of the Week three times, including after she tied the single-game program records with three goals and six points against Rider in the Great Danes' first victory of the season.  Jozak is UAlbany's seventh Rookie of the Year winner, following Teresa Boring (2007), Chelsea DeVerna (2009), Vivian Vega (2014), Meghan Cavanaugh (2016), Jasmine Colbert (2018), and Leah Pais (2019).
 
Mainstays
Since earning their first postseason berth during the 2009 season, UAlbany women's soccer has qualified for all but two postseason tournaments, missing out only in 2013 and in the COVID-affected 2020-21 season.  Overall, UAlbany is 13-7-2, in America East postseason matches, with three America East championships.
 
Picked Fifth
For the third-straight season, UAlbany was picked to finish fifth in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.  The Great Danes finished the 2022 regular season in fifth place and advanced to the conference semifinal round against top-seed Binghamton.  The Bearcats narrowly edged 2022 champion New Hampshire as the 2023 preseason favorite.
 
Home Field
UAlbany has been excellent within the confines of Tom & Mary Casey Stadium for the better part of the last decade, boasting a 41-19-8 record at home since the start of the 2015 season, the year of the program's first America East title.  The Great Danes went 4-3-3 at home in 2022, 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 while going 8-0-1 during the regular season.
 
Next: UAlbany visits Brown on August 25.