‘Cats Return Home to Face Stony Brook on ESPN+ (Sunday, 2 P.M.)

Sunday, October 7

Durham, N.H.

2 PM

University of New Hampshire

Stony Brook

(Photo by Helene Bartsch)

Photo by: Helene Bartsch

‘Cats Return Home to Face Stony Brook on ESPN+ (Sunday, 2 P.M.)

10/5/2018 3:54:00 PM | Women's Soccer

The Wildcats meet the Seawolves in an America East Semifinal rematch.

New Hampshire (5-5-2, 1-1-1 AE) vs. Stony Brook (8-5-1, 3-0-1 AE)
Sunday, October 7 • Wildcat Stadium – Durham, N.H. • 2 P.M.
WATCH - ESPN+ | LIVE STATS

DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire women's soccer team returns home for two straight America East contests, beginning with hosting the defending America East champion Stony Brook Seawolves on Sunday afternoon. The game will be played at Wildcat Stadium and will be streamed on ESPN+.

The Wildcats are riding a 2-2-1 record in their last five match ups, while Stony Brook comes in on a hot streak of 4-0-1. The Wildcats will stay home after this one and face Vermont on Thursday at 7 P.M. at Bremner Field.

The Series with Stony Brook
• The series between New Hampshire and Stony Brook in women's soccer has seen four post-season matchups and four overtime games.
• The Wildcats currently trail in the all-time series 9-10-4.
• The Seawolves have controlled the series in recent years, holding a 4-1-0 record in the last five meetings.
• Most recently, UNH and Stony Brook met in the 2017 America East Semifinals, which resulted in a 1-0 victory for Stony Brook.

UNH	Team Stat Comparison	SBU
1.08	Goals Per Game	2.14
1.50	Goals Allowed Per Game	1.29
13.9	Shots Per Game	11.8
3.75	Corners Per Game	4.21

'Cats Statistics Leaders

Goals: Ally Reynolds (3)
Points: Ally Reynolds (7)
Assists: Casey Peterson (2)
Saves: Mia Neas (61)
Save %: Mia Neas (.782)
GAA: Mia Neas (1.35)

Last Time Out
• After having last Sunday off, the Wildcats resumed America East play with a 1-1-0 record.
• New Hampshire faced UMass Lowell on Thursday evening, and played to a 0-0 double overtime draw.
• Mia Neas (Old Saybrook, Conn.) made seven saves, her second-highest saves in a game this season, in her third shut out of the season. The Wildcats were barely outshot by the River Hawks in shots on goal, 7-6.

The State of New Hampshire
• New Hampshire was ranked the number one team in the America East in their annual preseason poll that was released on August 6th.
• The Wildcats opened up the season with back-to-back overtime wins, the first in program history; UNH started 2-0-0 to start the season for the second straight year (went 11-6-1 in 2017).
• Both game-winners were scored by junior transfer Ally Reynolds (Weymouth, Mass.), who now leads the teams with three goals on the season.
• Also in that first weekend, sophomore Casey Peterson (Clifton, Va.) tallied her first four career points, notching two assists and a goal against Rhode Island.
• In their next five games, New Hampshire had a 1-3-1 record; they dropped two games of their season-opening three-game homestand to #14 Princeton and UMass, after going undefeated in the regular season at home last year (7-0-1).
• The 'Cats then 1-1-1 in their next three, with a win over ASU, a loss to Arizona, and the draw with Northeastern.
• UNH ended non-conference play splitting the weekend 1-1-0 home against Dartmouth and at Sacred Heart. The 4-4-1 non-conference record is the second best in the Steve Welham era, the first best being last season's 6-3-0.
• New Hampshire opened up conference play with a 1-0 overtime victory over UMBC. The victory put the 'Cats to 2-3-0 at home and was their first win following a win since the start of the season. They fell at Maine (1-0) in game two and tied with UMass Lowell (0-0) to put their conference record at an even 1-1-1 through two weeks of conference play.

Players to Watch
• The Wildcats return 19 players with six incoming freshmen and one junior transfer for a total of 26 players on the 2018 roster.
• Among those returners is reigning America East Goalkeeper of the Year Mia Neas who touted an 11-5-1 record in 2017 after seeing action in only three games prior to that season. Neas currently stands at a 5-5-2 record on the 2018 season with a .782 save percentage and a 1.35 GAA.
• Neas will serve as one of the two captains on the team this season, along with junior Caitlyn Keenan (Bow, N.H.) who has tallied one goal on the season. They are joined by two other representatives to serve as captains each game.
• The Wildcats also return All-Conference first-teamer Gaby Dorsey (Hubertus, Wisc.) who tallied 10 points on four goals and two assists, and All-Conference second-teamer Kaylan Williams (Marion, Ind.) who had five goals and an assist for 11 points last season. So far this season, Williams has five points on two goals and an assist.
• The defensive core remains intact for the 'Cats, who return Keenan, Maddie Murdick (Burlington, Conn.) and Caroline Wysocki (Agawam, Mass.), whom each tallied an assist last season, while holding their opponents to just 0.94 goals per game.
• Also returning on the defense is junior Megan Rumbold (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) who has been a threat on free kicks the past two seasons. Rumbold has two career goals, both coming off long setpieces, and leads the team in shots on goal with 17. This season, she scored late to equalize against Northeastern, which ended up being the deciding goal in a 2-2 tie with the Huskies.
• All-Rookie team members Sofia Borea (Oakville, Ontario) and Francesca Picicci (North Massapequa, N.Y.) got a great start to their UNH careers in the 2017 season and look to fill the holes left by some graduating members. Borea tallied one assist in her rookie season, filling in at the midfield spot, while Picicci worked her way up to a starting role and tallied three goals and two assists in her freshman season. Picicci has tallied one goal and an assist so far this season, while Borea nothced her first career goal in the season opener.

Scouting Stony Brook:
• The Seawolves (Stony Brook, N.Y.) boast a conference-best 3-0-1 record, and are 8-5-1 overall.
• Stony Brook, riding a five game unbeaten streak, has suffered all five of their losses in road games this season (3-5-1 record in road games.)
• The Seawolves have seven players who have tallied at least two goals on the season, led by Alyssa Francese who has a team-high eight goals and 17 points. Following close behind is Julie Johnstonbaugh with 13 points (6g, 1a) and Chelsie DePonte with 11 (4g, 3a.)
• In net, Stony Brook has started Sofia Manner in all 14 games this season. She has an 8-4-1 record with 55 saves, a .753 save% and a 1.32 GAA.

New Hampshire vs. The Power Five
• New Hampshire women's soccer now has three wins against schools in a power-5 conference (Big 10, Big 12, SEC, ACC, Pac-12)
• The first two wins came in the 1980s, with a victory over ACC foes Duke (9/16/89, 3-2) and Maryland (10/16/88, 2-1 in OT).
• With their win over ASU on Friday, August 31, New Hampshire tallied it's third win over a power-five school in program history, and their first against the Pac-12.

Road Warriors
Last season the Wildcats had a road record of 4-5-0 in the 2017 season; through 11 games of the 2018 season, the Wildcats hold a 3-1-2 road record.

Score Early and Often
New Hampshire is 4-0-1 in games where they tally the first goal, and 3-0-1 when leading at halftime. The 'Cats are also 3-0-1 when scoring two or more goals in a game.