'Cats Take 4-0-0 Record to UMass Lowell for March 14 Matchup

UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE WOMEN'S SOCCER
UNH (4-0-0, 1-0-0 America East) at UMass Lowell (1-1-1, 0-0-0 America East)
Sunday, March 14 | 2 p.m.
Cushing Field | Lowell, Mass.

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THE MATCHUP | CLICK HERE to view series history, boxes & recaps

New Hampshire has a 4-1-2 lifetime record against UMass Lowell. All seven meetings have been since the River Hawks elevated to D-I and joined America East for the 2013 season.
UNH recorded a 5-1 win in the 2019 regular-season finale at Wildcat Stadium. The Wildcats rolled out to a 3-0 lead with goals in the 3^rd, 17^th and 22^nd minutes. UML answered with a goal in the 34^th minute but the Wildcats struck again in the 40^th minute to take a 4-1 lead into halftime.
The previous two meetings in the '17 and '18 seasons ended in scoreless ties.
UNH has shut out UMass Lowell in four of seven meetings.
The River Hawks' win in the series was Oct, 23, 2016 (2-1 at Cushing Field).

WILDCATS RECEIVE A PAIR OF WEEK 3 CONFERENCE AWARDS

Junior goalkeeper Cat Sheppard and freshman midfielder Emily Bini were named the America East Defensive Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week, respectively, this past Tuesday.
The duo led New Hampshire to a -0 overtime win in last Sunday's America East conference opener at Wildcat Stadium.
Sheppard has received the defensive player award two of the three weeks in the spring 2021 season.
Bini is the second consecutive Wildcat feted as top rookie; Alivia Kelly was honored March 2.
UNH has received five of the nine weekly conference awards this season.
Sheppard was credited with two saves to record the clean sheet vs. Maine and extend her shutout streak to 203 minutes, 7 seconds.
Bini's thru ball set up the only goal of the game – the golden goal in the 95^th minute. Bini controlled the ball at midfield and sent a pass behind three Maine defenders to spring Francesca Picicci, who won the race to the loose ball and scored into the open net.

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

UNH enters Sunday's game with a 4-0-0 record that includes 1-0-0 in America East following last Sunday's 1-0 overtime home win vs. Maine.
The 4-0-0 start is the best in program history; the Wildcats did get off to a 3-0-0 start in 2017.
This is the fourth time in seven years under coach Welham that New Hampshire has been unbeaten through the first three games of the season; the Wildcats were 1-0-2 in both 2015 and 2016.
Sunday's game at UMass Lowell will be the Wildcats' first road game since the 2019 semifinal at Stony Brook (Nov. 7); the most recent regular-season road match was Oct. 27, 2019 (also at Stony Brook).
The 'Cats christened the Spring 2021 season with a 2-0 win vs. Northeastern (Feb. 14), then upended Merrimack College, 5-1 (Feb. 24), Rhode Island, 2-0 (Feb. 28) and Maine (1-0, OT, March 7).

CLEAN SHEETS AND SHUTOUT STREAKS

New Hampshire has recorded three clean sheets in four games. The last time the Wildcats shut out three of the first four opponents was 2016.
UNH's one goal allowed in the first four games is the fewest since that '16 squad also surrendered one goal through four games; and those 2016 Wildcats yielded one goal in Game 5.
New Hampshire takes an active shutout streak of 223:49 into Sunday's game at UMass Lowell.
UNH's season-opening shutout streak ended at 140 minutes, 30 seconds when Merrimack scored in the 51^st minute of Game 2 (Feb. 24).

SHEPPARD'S EIGHT SHUTOUTS

Junior goalie Cat Sheppard recorded her second consecutive shutout, third of the season and eighth career with two saves in UNH's 1-0 overtime win against Maine on March 7.
Sheppard takes a shutout streak of 203 minutes, 7 seconds into the matchup at UMass Lowell.
She tallied her seventh career shutout with a two-save effort in the Wildcats' 2-0 win vs. Rhode Island on Feb. 28.
Sheppard tallied her sixth career clean sheet with a three-save effort in UNH's 1-0 victory against Northeastern at Wildcat Stadium on Feb. 14.
Sheppard shut out five opponents in the 2019 season with back-to-back shutouts twice; her longest shutout streak is 260:17, and her second longest is 250:50.

HIGH OCTANE OFFENSE

New Hampshire has scored nine goals in four games for an average of 2.25 goals per game.
UNH is averaging 12.3 shots per game with 32 of its 49 shots on target (65.3%). In comparison, the opponents are averaging 5.5 shots with 9 of 22 on goal (40.9%).

CONFERENCE CALL

UNH sits atop the conference leaderboard in scoring average (2.25 goals per game) and scoring defense (0.25 goals per game).
The Wildcats have recorded two of the three highest shot totals – 17 vs. Merrimack is No. 2 and 16 vs. Maine is No. 3; UMass Lowell's 18 shots vs. UMass is No. 1.

CONFERENCE LEADERBOARD

With one goal allowed in 343 minutes, 37 seconds, Sheppard leads America East with a 0.262 goals-against-average. Sheppard is #3 in save percentage at .875 (seven saves; 1 GA)
Picicci ranks #3 in the conference in shots on goal per game (1.75) and is #7 in shots per game (2.75).
Picicci and sophomore Whitney Wiley are tied for the lead with three goals. They are also tied for fourth in points per game at 1.75.
Freshmen Emily Bini and Anna Hewlett are tied for the lead (with three other players) at two assists.

UNH PREVAILS IN BORDER BATTLE vs. MAINE

A golden goal by Picicci in the 95^th minute lifted New Hampshire to a 1-0 overtime win against Maine at Wildcat Stadium last Sunday.
In a succession of passes, freshman Keegan Mayer, near the midfield line along the left touchline, centered the ball to Bini, whose thru ball sprung Picicci past three Black Bears.
Picicci touched the ball past the sliding tackle of goalie Kira Kutzinski 28 yards from the goal line and left-footed the ball into the open net from 17 yards to end the game at 94:19.
Sheppard was credited with two saves to record the clean sheet.
UNH finished with a 16-4 shot advantage, including 7-2 on goal. The 'Cats recorded the only two shots in the extra session.
The Wildcats recorded a 6-2 edge on corner kicks.

'CAT NIPS

Wiley and Picicci have scored six of UNH's nine goals this season with three apiece. Both have one assist, which has come on a goal scored by the other.
Picicci has scored a goal each of the last three games.
Bini has tallied an assist each of the past two matches and is tied for the team lead in assists with fellow freshman Anna Hewlett, who tallied an assist the first two games of the season.
Mayer recorded her first career point with an assist on Picicci's golden goal last Sunday vs. Maine.
Ten Wildcats have started all four games.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

New Hampshire opened the Spring 2021 season with four consecutive home games and won all four.
Dating back to the 2019 season, UNH has won seven consecutive home games.
Spanning the 2019 and Spring 2021 seasons, UNH is 10-3-0 at home.
The Wildcats' most recent loss in Durham was Oct. 13, 2019 (2-0 to UAlbany).

REVAMPED ROSTER

UNH's Spring 2021 team, led by seventh-year head coach Steve Welham, has a very different looking roster from the one that went 10-8-0, scored 28 goals (the most by UNH since '07), shut out six opponents and advanced to the America East semifinals in the 2019 season.
This year's roster is comprised of three seniors, four juniors, five sophomores and 12 freshmen.

THE CAPTAINS

Seniors Casey Peterson and Picicci are the captains.
Peterson is one of three returning starters. The midfield/forward played in 16 of 18 games, was in the starting lineup 15 times and played 1,312 of a possible 1,621 minutes. She tallied one point on an assist and a total of nine shots. Peterson has 30 starts the past two seasons.
Picicci, a forward/midfield player, saw action in all 18 games and was in the starting lineup once (Sept. 29 at Binghamton University); she played a total of 440 minutes.

WILDCATS RECEIVE A PAIR OF WEEK 2 CONFERENCE AWARDS

Wiley and freshman back Alivia Kelly were named the America East Offensive Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week, respectively, on March 2.
Wiley scored a total of three goals, including two game-winning tallies, and an assist for seven points as UNH defeated Merrimack, 5-1, on Feb. 24 and URI, 2-0, on Feb. 28.
She matched her career high of two goals and also had an assist for a personal-best five points against Merrimack.
It is the first career conference Player of the Week award for Wiley.
Kelly anchored UNH's backline as the Wildcats allowed a total of four shots on goal and one goal. The 'Cats yielded five shots – two on goal – vs. Merrimack. And with Kelly once again directing the defensive unit against URI, the Rams recorded seven shots and once again only two were on goal.

ALIVIA KELLY RECEIVES NATIONAL RECOGNITION

Freshman back Alivia Kelly was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Women's Team of the Week: Feb. 9-15. She scored the game's only goal in a 1-0 victory against Northeastern University on Feb. 14 and helped the Wildcats record a clean sheet by limiting the Huskies to six shots (three on goal).

SHEPPARD RECEIVES CONFERENCE HONOR IN FIRST WEEKLY AWARDS

Junior goalkeeper Cat Sheppard was named America East Defensive Player of the Week on Feb. 23. Sheppard stopped all three shots on goal to backbone UNH to a 1-0 season-opening victory against Northeastern University at Wildcat Stadium on Feb. 14. She was credited with two saves in the first half and maintained the clean sheet with one more save in the final 45 minutes.

UNH PICKED FIFTH IN AMERICA EAST PRESEASON POLL

The University of New Hampshire women's soccer team was picked fifth in the Spring 2021 America East Women's Soccer Preseason Poll that was released Feb. 10.
Stony Brook University received all nine possible first-place votes and a total of 81 points in the poll. The University of Hartford received the other first-place vote and 70 points. The third through sixth spots were separated by 11 points with UAlbany (58 points) followed by UMass Lowell (53), UNH (50) and Binghamton University (47).

WHO'S IN OUR DIVISION

The America East conference is split into two divisions this season. UNH is in Division A with Hartford, Maine, UMass Lowell and Vermont. Division B is comprised of UAlbany, Binghamton, UMBC, NJIT and Stony Brook.
The top two teams in each division qualify for the America East Women's Soccer Championship, which will be held at the tournament's top seed April 15 & 17.

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