University of Massachusets Athletics
Minutewomen Hit Road Wednesday At Albany
September 16, 2008 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 16, 2008
Riding a four-game unbeaten streak, the UMass women's soccer team looks to continue its success when it travels to Albany on Wednesday to face the Great Danes with kickoff set for 3 p.m. Vanessa Patry continued her torrid scoring pace on Sunday to lead the Minutewomen (2-1-2) over Holy Cross, 2-1, in double overtime. Her header of Therese Smith's corner kick capped off thrilling victory. Facing a tough schedule, Albany owns a 2-6 record with the wins coming over Colgate and Youngstown State. The Great Danes come into the match with four-consecutive losses.
UMass-Albany Series History
•The Minutewomen hold a perfect 3-0 record in the all-time series.
•The two teams were scheduled to play last season at Albany, but the game was called due to torrential rain leading to poor field conditions.
•The last time the teams met was at Rudd Field in 2006 when UMass came out on top 1-0 in overtime.
•The Minutewomen easily won the first two meetings between the schools, 6-0 on Sept. 1, 1999 and 9-0 on Sept. 2, 2000.
•Across all sports, it marks the second of four matchups scheduled between the two schools. The UMass football team topped Albany, 28-16, on Sept. 29 at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. Field hockey is scheduled to host the Great Danes on Sept. 27 at noon on Garber Field while women's tennis hosts Albany on Feb. 15 at 1 p.m.
America East Flavor
•Albany marks the fourth America East team that the Minutewomen have already played.
•UMass owns a 0-1-2 record in the previous three, falling to Binghamton (Aug. 24) and tying Maine (Aug. 29) and New Hampshire (Sept. 4).
•Ironically, each of those three games has gone to overtime.
•The other three nonconference games were against an independent (Bryant University), Patriot League (Holy Cross), and will be vs. Providence College (Big East) on Sunday.
Scouting Albany
•The Great Danes come into the match with a 2-6 record, including four-consecutive defeats.
•They gave up four goals in each of those four games, losing 4-1 to Brown, 4-0 to Siena, 4-2 to Niagara, and 4-1 to Drexel.
•Albany is led on offense by Ashley Tirabassi who has nine points (4g, 1a) followed by Rebecca Lee who has seven (2g, 3a), Teresa Boring with four (2g), and Kendra Harrell-Vigil with two (1g). Three others have recorded an assist apiece.
•Cate Crenson has started all eight games, recording a .692 save percentage and 2.77 GAA while Amber Maisonet has seen relief action twice with a .500 save percentage and 2.00 GAA.
A Birthday Wish
•Three UMass players will be hoping for a win on Wednesday to help celebrate their birthdays.
•Forward Sydney Stoll turns 20 on Tuesday while Katie Ruggles (20) and Vanessa Patry (21) have birthdays on Wednesday, the day of the game.
•Last season, Stoll scored a career-high two goals on her birthday in a 4-0 win over Hartford on Sept. 16.
Patry Paves The Way
•Senior Captain Vanessa Patry has had a tremendous start to the 2008 campaign, recording eight points (3g, 2a) through five games.
•She is already only one goal, two assists, and four points away from her career-highs for a single season.
•Patry has been a part of five of the team's seven goals on the season.
•She is currently on a career-high three-game point streak with two goals vs. New Hampshire (Sept. 4), an assist vs. Bryant (Sept. 10), and a goal and assist vs. Holy Cross (Sept. 14).
•The most-consecutive games she had ever gone with a point was two, accomplished on several occasions.
•Patry's efforts were rewarded by being named A-10 Co-Player of the Week for her effort vs. New Hampshire and UMass/Dinn Bros. Co-Athlete of the Week for the games vs. Bryant and Holy Cross.
Vanessa Connection
•The Minutewomen's two Vanessas were connected in a number of ways on Sunday.
•Patry's first shot hit the post less than two minutes into the game, but Vanessa Lima cleaned up the rebound and buried her first goal of the season. Patry was credited with the assist on the play.
•Lima's last goal as a Minutewoman came three years ago on Oct. 14, 2005 when she netted a career-high two in a win vs. Duquesne.
•The two Vanessas also repeatedly subbed for one another throughout the game.
Déjà Vu
•The Minutewomen scored only 1:45 into the game on Sunday vs. Holy Cross when Vanessa Lima netted her first goal of the season.
•It was the quickest goal UMass has scored in a game since Sept. 16, 2005 when the Minutewomen's Jenny Roehrig scored only 1:37 into the contest.
•That game was also against Holy Cross, the last time the two schools met prior to Sunday.
Unbeaten Streak Tidbits
•The Minutewomen are on a four-game unbeaten streak, which is the longest streak since the beginning of last season when they started the year with a seven-game run (6-0-1 record).
•Dating back to last season, the team hasn't lost in the last five home games (3-0-2 record). The last defeat came on Oct. 21, 2007 vs. La Salle.
Going Extra
•UMass has gone into overtime in four of the first five games of the season (and six of seven dating back to last season).
•The four extra sessions already ties the most in program history, set last season.
•The five-consecutive overtime games dating the final two games of 2007 and the first three of 2008 were by far and away the most in school history. There had never been more than two-consecutive overtime games.
Home Cooking
•After scoring only one goal in the team's first two games of the season (0.50/game), the Minutewomen tallied two in each of the first home games.
•In fact, UMass has produced two goals in each of their last five home games dating back to last season.
Scoring First
•Through the first five games, the Minutewomen have not allowed an opposing team to score first.
•UMass has scored first four times (Binghamton, New Hampshire, Bryant, Holy Cross), while there was no scoring in the tie vs. Maine.
•Last season, the Minutewomen scored first in nine of their 17 games (53%) including a streak of five straight to begin the season (and six of the first seven).
Liking The Lead
•The Minutewomen have only trailed at one point this season, at Binghamton when they allowed an overtime goal to fall by a 2-1 final.
•They have had the lead (1-0 over Binghamton, 1-0 and 2-1 over New Hampshire, 1-0 and 2-0 over Bryant, 1-0 and 2-1 over Holy Cross) or been tied (1-1 vs. Binghamton, 0-0 vs. Maine, 1-1 and 2-2 vs. New Hampshire, 1-1 vs. Holy Cross) at every other point.
•Last year, the team didn't trail until game six when they allowed the first goal to Vermont before scoring three-unanswered to top the Catamounts, 3-1.
Seeing Some Minutes
•Three freshmen made their collegiate debuts last Wednesday vs. Bryant.
•Lindsey DiOrio saw action in the first and second halves; Rachel Miranda and Maura Romano played in the second.
•DiOrio then saw substantial minutes on Sunday, primarily playing up front.
•Junior Jacquelyn Desjardins also saw her first action on Wednesday, seeing time late in the first and second halves.
You Always Remember Your First
•Amy Ballew's goal on Wednesday was the first of her career and her first collegiate point.
•Freshman Meghan Collins assisted on the second goal which was her first-career assist (and point).
Shutout Happy
•Junior goalkeeper Lauren Luckey made four saves last Wednesday for her second-career shutout. It marked the first time she has won when earning a shutout (her first was a 0-0 tie vs. Maine on Aug. 29). She made seven saves vs. the Black Bears.
•Her two shutouts are already only one shy of Kristin Walker's total from last season. The 2007 Minutewomen finished with five (three by Walker and two by the team).
•Luckey appeared in both team shutouts (vs. Hartford in a 4-0 win and vs. Fordham in a 1-0 victory). She saw considerable minutes against the Rams, replacing an injured Kristin Walker to close out a 1-0 win while handing Fordham their only conference loss of the season.
Senior Sensations
•The Minutewomen have seven goals so far this season with the first being by redshirt senior Tina Rodriguez and the last two by Lima and Patry.
•For Rodriguez, it marked her first-career goal in her 47th collegiate game. It was also her first game played in almost two full years. She was injured on Oct. 1, 2006 vs. La Salle and has been rehabbing since then with her hard work leading to her first goal.
•The feat was similar to a moment from last year when senior defender Kaelyn Caldwell recorded her first-career goal in her 59th career game. She found the back of the net in a 3-1 win at Xavier on Oct. 7.
•Lima's goal was her first as a Minutewoman since 2005 when she netted a career-high two goals on Oct. 14 vs. Duquesne.
•In total, Patry (8 points) and Lima (3) lead the team in scoring while seniors have accounted for 15 of the 21 credited points.
Young Bunch
•The UMass women's soccer program welcomes eight newcomers to this year's squad including seven freshmen.
•Freshmen: Amanda Carvalho (Cheshire, Conn.), Meghan Collins (North Wales, Pa.), Lindsey DiOrio (Bridgewater, N.J.), Rachel Miranda (Hopedale, Mass.), Natalie Muka (Cortland, N.Y.), Katie Muller (Pittsburgh, Pa.), and Maura Romano (Wexford, Pa.)
•Romano and Muller are familiar with each other as they played club ball together as part of the IFC Blast.
•The eighth newcomer has actually seen time with the Minutewomen in 2004 and 2005. Lima played two seasons at UMass before transferring to Salem State and then retransferring back to Amherst.
•In total, 12 of the 22 Minutewomen are either freshmen or sophomores, giving Head Coach Jim Rudy one of the youngest groups he has ever coached.
New Roles
•With such a young team, Rudy is turning to experienced veterans to lead the way. He used the same starting lineup for all three games thus far.
•In total, five of the starters are seniors, two juniors and four sophomores.
•Adams, Collins, and Muka have seen the most action off the bench.
•After working her way into more and more playing time, senior Amy Ballew was rewarded with her first-career start on Aug. 24 at Binghamton along with starting the Aug. 29 game vs. Maine. She played all 110 minutes in both ties (vs. the Black Bears, and the New Hampshire Wildcats) and played all 90 minutes vs. Bryant while also scoring her first collegiate goal.
Media Guide Now Online
•The 2008 Media Guide is now online! Click herefor the link to download the guide or to purchase a hard copy!
Last Time Out: Patry's Header Lifts UMass To 2-1 OT Victory Over Holy Cross
AMHERST, MASS. - Senior Vanessa Patry headed in a corner kick at the start of the second overtime to seal a 2-1 victory for the UMass women's soccer team over Holy Cross on Sunday afternoon, in the final non-conference home game of the season at Rudd Field. Patry also assisted on the first goal of the contest, scored by Vanessa Lima just 1:45 into the match. Extending their unbeaten streak to four, the Minutewomen improve to 2-1-2 with the win, while the Crusaders drop to 0-6.
"We're just happy to get an overtime win and also to get a win against a team that is much better than their record indicates," Head Coach Jim Rudy said. "They gave us everything we could handle; we were one goal away from losing this game. It was a tough game for us, and tough for them too."
The Minutewomen jumped out to the early lead when Patry's initial shot hit the crossbar. Lima corralled the rebound and beat Holy Cross goalkeeper Jessica Stone with a shot to the top right corner, giving UMass the 1-0 advantage in the second minute. Patry's assist extended her point scoring streak to three straight games.
Holy Cross tied the score at one midway through the first when Shelby Stand's long shot bent in to beat Massachusetts goalkeeper Lauren Luckey high and to the right. The goal came at 22:59 and was unassisted.
After a scoreless second half and first overtime, the Minutewomen converted on their fourth corner kick of the game. Therese Smith delivered a perfectly placed cross to Patry who headed it inside the right post to end the game in thrilling fashion.
Luckey was strong in net, making five saves for her second win of the season, while Crusaders' netminder Jessica Stone totaled four stops. Shots were 15-13 in favor of UMass. Holy Cross was whistled for more fouls, 19-15, and led in corners, 6-4.
