'Cats Close Weekend Slate Sunday with Sacred Heart (2 PM)

2017 UNH Women's Soccer Game Notes

Sacred Heart (0-0-0) at UNH (0-0-0)
Sunday, August 20 • Bremner Field • 2 p.m.
Video • Stats

The Matchup vs. LIU Brooklyn

The Wildcats topped LIU Brooklyn 2-0 on Friday to open the season with a victory. Junior Gaby Dorsey (Hubertus, Wis.) and senior Brooke Murphy (Monson, Mass.) each tallied goals in the effort as senior Mia Neas (Old Saybrook, Conn.) earned her first career shutout.

The Matchup vs. Sacred Heart

UNH prevailed 1-0 in the most recent meeting – Aug. 25, 2013 at Vermont.

The State of New Hampshire

UNH opens the 2017 season with three consecutive home games.
New Hampshire returns 20 letterwinners, including six of the top eight point producers, from last year's squad that was ousted in the league semifinals by a one-goal margin. Also of note, eight starters return.
Headlining that group is senior captain Murphy, the two-time reigning America East Striker of the Year who has led not only UNH but the conference in both goals and points each of the past two seasons.
Liz Lane (Porter, Maine) was one of five Wildcats who started all 19 games a year ago and was named to the conference's All-Rookie Team. She topped UNH's leaderboard in assists (four) and also scored two goals to rank second in points (eight).
The defensive unit is anchored by senior Kendra Prince (Ajax, Ontario), the other Wildcat who garnered All-Conference First Team recognition in 2016. She has started every game the past two years. Prince helped New Hampshire shut out five opponents last year and ranked third among field players in minutes played.
Carolinie Wysocki (Agawam, Mass.) is another experienced player in the backfield. She started all 19 games a year ago – and led all players in minutes with 1796 – en route to being named to the America East All-Rookie Team.
Senior captain Jackie Feraco (Holden, Mass.) is a veteran leader on the backline. In the 2015 season, Feraco played 1788 of a possible 1806 minutes.
UNH was selected third in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll that was released Aug. 9. Hartford and Albany were picked ahead of the Wildcats in the nine-team league.

Milestone Watch

Brooke Murphy is on the verge of becoming the program leader in both career goals and points.
She scored 11 goals each of her first three seasons for a total of 33, which ranks fourth all-time. The UNH benchmark of 38 established by Diane McLoughlin has stood since 1990. Chiara Best (37; 2001-04) and Kim Boyle (35; 1993-96) rank second and third, respectively.
Murphy also enters her senior season with 75 career points, which is 13 short of Chiara Best's mark of 88 points established from 2001-04. Currently No. 5, Murphy is on the heels of Mary Beth Sydlowski (79; 1988-91), Kim Boyle (86; 1993-96) and Diane McLoughlin (87; 1987-90).

Last Line of Defense

In goal, the Wildcats have to replace four-year starter and two-year captain Mimi Borkan, who earned a spot on the All-Conference Second Team in 2016.
Senior captain Mia Neas (Old Saybrook, Conn.) and junior Morgan Baumgartner (Huntington Beach, Calif.) have a combined five years of collegiate experience, but neither has a start as a UNH Wildcat.
Neas made one appearance in '16 and stopped 4 of 6 shots on goal in the second half of a 2-1 loss at UMass Lowell. In three career games (61:53 of action), she has a 2.91 GAA and .667 save percentage.
Baumgartner also has three career appearances. In 30:10 of action, she has not faced a shot on goal to record a perfect 0.00 GAA. Baumgartner played the final 8:55 last September against UMBC to combine with Borkan for a shutout of the Retrievers.

Season Openers

New Hampshire pushed its season-opening record to 2-0-2 in the Steve Welham era.
This was the third consecutive year the Wildcats opened at home. They played to a scoreless tie each of the previous two years – 2016 vs. Siena College and 2015 vs. Rhode Island.
UNH was a 1-0 victor against Youngstown State (at Vermont) in 2014.
UNH's most recent loss in a season opener was to Colgate University (at UVM) in 2013 by as score of 2-0.
New Hampshire is 5-3-3 the past 11 season openers, including Friday's effort; that includes 1-1-2 at home.

Scouting Sacred Heart

Sacred Heart (Fairfield, Conn.) was picked fourth in the Northeast Conference preseason poll that was released earlier this week.
The Pioneers' nucleus includes 2016 All-NEC Second Team selections Alex Mesropyan, Melanie DaSilva and Nikki Zurawski as well as All-Rookie Team honoree Caitlyn Buckley.
DaSilva and Buckley tied for the team lead in goals (three); the former recorded a team-high eight points and the latter tied for second in that stat with seven.
In goal, Nicole Sambuco played every second of all 19 games. She had a 1.03 GAA, .809 save percentage and eight shutouts.
Sacred Heart went 8-6-5, including 5-1-2 in the NEC and 4-2-4 on the road, last year.
SHU opens the 2017 season Aug. 18 at the University of Vermont, another America East conference member, before traveling to Durham to play UNH.

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Players Mentioned

Morgan Baumgartner

Mimi Borkan

Jackie Feraco

Liz Lane

Brooke Murphy

Mia Neas

Kendra Prince