Picicci's Two Goals Leads UNH Past UMBC, 3-0

Sunday, October 10

Durham, N.H.

12 PM

University of New Hampshire

4-6-2, 2-2-1

UMBC

5-6-2, 1-4-0

Team	1	2	Final F
UMBC	0	0	0
New Hampshire	1	2	3

Photo by: Rick Wilson

10/10/2021 4:08:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Sheppard Records Fifth Shutout of Season with Five Saves

DURHAM, N.H. – Senior captain Francesca Picicci (North Massapequa, N.Y.) scored two goals to lead the University of new Hampshire women's soccer team to Sunday afternoon's 3-0 conference victory against UMBC at Wildcat Stadium.

Picicci scored in the 5^th and 47^th minutes to give UNH a 2-0 lead. Sophomore Anna Hewlett (Webster, N.Y.) finished with a goal and an assist.

UNH senior goalkeeper and captain Cat Sheppard (Nesconset, N.Y.) made five saves to record her fifth shutout of the season and 13^th clean sheet of her career. UMBC counterpart Abbey Cowles was credited with seven saves.

UNH improved to 4-6-2 overall and 2-2-1 in America East with its second consecutive won. UMBC is now 5-6-2, 1-4-0.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

WSOC scoreboard final_10.10.21

UP NEXT

UNH returns to action Oct. 14 (7 p.m.) at the University of Maine.
The Wildcats' next home game is Oct. 17 (2 p.m.) against NJIT.

FIRST HALF

New Hampshire pressured early and generated a corner in the opening minute of the game. The service in the box landed at the feet of sophomore Logan Nicholson (St. Augustine, Fla.), who sent a shot out top left of the cage.
Picicci gave UNH a 1-0 lead at 4:59. On the right wing, the centering pass from freshman Meghan Guarente (Sewell, N.J.) found Picicci, who turned, took one touch and blasted a shot from 25 yards into the upper-right corner.
In the 13^th minute, UNH generated a dangerous scoring chance on another corner. This time the low service was left by two Wildcats and run onto by a third, Guarente, who ripped a shot out top right from 15 yards.
Both Nicholson and grad student captain Casey Peterson (Round Hill, Va.) tested Cowles in the 18^th minute, but she had the answer to keep the margin at one goal.
Cowles denied Hewlett in the 28^th minute before UMBC began to settle into its possession game and record its first shot of the game, albeit off targe, by Caroline Koutsos in the 32^nd minute.
Sheppard made her first – and only – save of the opening 45 minutes when she denied Erin Stevenson in the 35^th minute.
At the other end of the field, Cowles made stops against sophomore Alivia Kelly (Pembroke, Mass.) in the 41^st minute and Hewlett in the 42^nd.

SECOND HALF

Picicci struck even quicker in the second half with a goal 1:50 after play resumed. Sophomore Emily Bini (Guilderland, N.Y.) initiated the sequence with a pass from the right wing to the top-left corner of the box, where Hewlett one-touched a pass ahead to Picicci, who in turn left-footed a rising blast into the upper-left corner at 46:50.
Hewlett extended the lead to 3-0 at 60:45 when she chested a ball in the box and volleyed a shot that went off Cowles and bounced into the goal. Nicholson, with the service from 32 yards on the right wing, was credited with the assist for her first career point.
UMBC's Julia Rafaniello snuck behind UNH's defense in the 77^th minute, but Sheppard came off the line to smother the low shot from 10 yards.
Sheppard made two more saves in the final 10 minutes to preserve the shutout.
In the 87^th minute, sophomore Cassie Jones (Beverly, Mass.) struck a shot from the top-right corner of the box that sailed just above the near corner.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

UNH recorded a 16-10 shot advantage that included a 10-5 edge in shots on goal.
The Wildcats doubled up UMBC in corner kicks, 4-2.
Hewlett and Bini both recorded a game-high three shots.
UMBC's Izzy Binko also had three shots.

UNH NOTEBOOK

New Hampshire has won back-to-back games by a score of 3-0; the 'Cats won by that score Oct. 3 at Stony Brook University.
Sheppard's five shutouts match her total from the 2019 season. She also posted three clean sheets in the abbreviated Spring 2021 season.
Sheppard has held the opposition scoreless the past 182 minutes, 21 seconds dating back to Sept. 30 (UMass Lowell goal at 87:39).
Her longest career shutout streak is 260:17 (2019 season); her longest streak last season was 216:49.
Sheppard's 13 career shutouts ranks #5 in the school record book; Maja Hansen (1991-95) is at No. 4 with 14.
Picicci scored two goals for the second consecutive game. She established that benchmark as a freshman against Army West Point in the 2017 season.
Hewlett's three points (one goal, one assist) marked a personal best.
Bini has recorded an assist each of the past three games.
Nicholson recorded her first career point with the assist on Hewlett's goal.
The three goals matches a season high for the Wildcats. In addition to last week's aforementioned win vs. SBU, the 'Cats also netted three goals in the season opener against Merrimack College (3-0 win).

SERIES NOTEBOOK

UNH has a 12-4-3 lifetime record against UMBC that includes 7-2-1 at home.
The Wildcats have won each of the past three meetings by an aggregate score of 6-0.