Oct. 15, 2009
AMHERST, Mass. -
One of several UMass teams in action in Amherst for Homecoming Weekend, the women's soccer squad will play host to A-10 rival Rhode Island on Saturday in a 1 p.m. match on Rudd Field. The Minutewomen head into the contest at 3-8-2 overall on the season and 2-4-0 in Atlantic 10 play.
Game Coverage
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Scouting Rhode Island
Rhode Island comes to Amherst this weekend at 4-9-1 overall and 2-4-0 in the Atlantic 10. The Rams' two non-conference wins came at home vs. Towson (1-0) and on the road at Vermont (2-1), while their A-10 victories came at Temple (2-1) and vs. Fordham (4-0). URI enters Saturday's match against UMass having dropped its last two games (vs. Brown, 3-2 and vs. La Salle, 2-1).
Twelve different players have at least one point for Rhode Island. Alexis Veith and Ashley Evangelista lead the Rams with seven points. Veith is the top goal scorer with three, while six more URI players have two goals on the year. Evangelista and Courtney David have a squad-best three assists apiece.
Three goalkeepers have seen action for the Rams: Tara Murphy, Jackie Fede and Brooke Messier. Murphy has appeared in nine games with seven starts for 683:37 minutes and holds a 1.84 goals against average and a .770 save percentage. Fede follows with 500:37 minutes played, a 2.34 goals against average and a .629 save percentage. Messier has appeared in two matches with one start for a total of 95:46.
Series History
Since the teams' first meeting in 1988, UMass is 14-7-0 in its all-time series against Rhode Island with the squad's last victory coming in 2003 by a 4-1 margin.
Last season in North Kingston, R.I., the Minutewomen dropped a 1-0 decision to the Rams. Lauren Luckey had five saves in net for UMass.
Scoring Summary
Seven UMass players have combined for a total of 24 points, led by redshirt junior Sydney Stoll with nine points on four and one assist. Junior Therese Smtih follows with eight points on three goals and two assists, while freshman Meredith Fox and senior Katie Ruggles have one goal apiece.
Smith carries a two game point scoring streak into Saturday's match against the Rams and had a three-point game against Fordham this past Sunday. She has at least one point in the past four straight home games. The junior midfielder has matched her career high for goals (3) and points (8) in a season, her final totals from 2008 as a sophomore.
Stoll has scored in three of the past four home games for UMass (vs. Fordham, La Salle and Saint Peter's).
Cota Cops Pair of Honors
For her efforts in the opening week of conference play freshman goalkeeper Emily Cota was named Co-A-10 Rookie of the Week and UMass Athlete of the Week on Sept. 28.
Cota played a scoreless second half to record her first collegiate win vs. Saint Joseph's and earned a shutout in her first start while making eight saves against Duquesne.
To date, the freshman netminder has played in 12 games with five starts for a total of 825:46 minutes. She holds a 1.85 goals against average and a .773 save percentage with 58 saves.
Scoreless Tie Tidbits
The 0-0 tie vs. New Hampshire on Sept. 13 was the third scoreless draw in the past two seasons for the Minutewomen.
In total, the program has logged 12 scoreless ties all-time: 2009, 2008 (2), 1995, 1993 (2), 1989, 1988, 1983 (3), 1980.
More On OT
From Sept. 9 to Sept. 17, the Minutewomen played three straight double overtime games for the first time in school history and went 0-1-2 in those contests. In 2008 and 2007, the squad played five-consecutive overtime games (third game in that stretch was a single OT) spanning the final two games of 2007 and the first three of 2008, which were by far and away the most in school history. There had never been more than two consecutive overtime games.
Last season, UMass set a program record with six overtime games, all coming in the first nine matches of the 2008 schedule. The previous high was four in 2007. So far this season through 13 matches, the Minutewomen have played four overtime games and have a 0-2-2 record in those contests.
Wilkins Honored
Former UMass women's soccer standout Paula Wilkins was inducted into the UMass Athletic Hall of Fame on Oct. 9 in a dinner held at the UMass Student Union Ballroom.
A defender who played from 1990-93, Wilkins helped UMass to three NCAA berths during her four seasons, including serving as captain of the 1993 squad that went 17-3-3 and made the sixth Final Four appearance in program history.
Wilkins appeared in 73 career games, scored seven goals and collected 18 assists. As a senior in 1993, she was named an NSCAA First-Team All-American and to the Soccer News All-America First Team. Wilkins was named an All-Atlantic 10 selection in 1993 and captured All-New England honors in 1991.
After graduating from UMass in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in exercise science, the Academic All-American went on to become the head women's soccer coach at Penn State and is currently the head coach at Wisconsin.
When Wilkins led Penn State to the 2002 College Cup, she became the first person in NCAA history to both play and coach in the event.
New Look Lineup
The Minutewomen's starting lineup in the season opener featured just four players who started five games or more in 2008: Ashley Hamel, Lauren Luckey, Katie Ruggles and Therese Smith.
Two of the remaining seven, Sydney Stoll and Meghan Gould, returned to the lineup after missing all of 2008 with injuries. In her first two seasons with the Minutewomen, Stoll played in 28 games with 18 starts and totaled 18 points on seven goals and four assists. Gould started 13 of 14 games she appeared in as a sophomore in 2007.
Freshmen Meredith Fox and Jess Howe both made their first collegiate starts on Aug. 28 at Holy Cross. Sophomore Lauren Yelinek, who is in her first season with the Minutewomen, also made her UMass debut as a member of the starting lineup in that contest. Fox, Howe and Yelinek have started every match thus far for the Minutewomen.
Changing Of The Guard
After long-time head coach Jim Rudy announced his retirement in late may after 21 seasons at the helm for the Minutewomen, Angela Napoli was appointed as head coach on July 21.
Napoli, a 2000 UMass graduate and native of nearby Longmeadow, takes over after spending for season as an assistant coach on Rudy's staff. In her four previous seasons as an assistant, the Minutewomen compiled a 34-30-6 record, including an 11-6 mark in 2006.
A four-year letterwinner in goal for the Minutewomen (1996-1999), Napoli played in 35 career games (starting 27) and posted a 1.38 goals against average. Currently, she ranks seventh all-time in the UMass record book in career shutouts (13) and saves (159).
Napoli's First Head Coaching Victory
UMass' 2-1 win over Saint Peter's on Sept. 19 marked the first career head coaching victory for Angela Napoli.
The Minutewomen scored a pair in the first half courtesy of Sydney Stoll and Therese Smith and finished the contest with a decisive 22-6 shot advantage.
Welcome Back
UMass returns six starters from the 2008 squad, including seniors Lauren Luckey and Katie Ruggles, juniors Kelsey Anderson, Therese Smith and Alyssa Visconti, and sophomore Meghan Collins.
Luckey played every minute of all 18 games last season and posted a 1.05 goals against average while also recording five shutouts.
Smith, who started 17 contests in 2008, finished her sophomore campaign second on the team in points with eight (three goals, two assists) and is the top returning scorer for UMass. She had two game-winning goals and trailed only Vanessa Patry (13 points) in point production. Patry is back with the Minutewomen, but in a new role as an assistant coach.
Close To Home
Nearly 60 percent of the UMass roster is made up of players from Massachusetts.
A total of 13 players hail from the Bay State, while four come from Pennsylvania, two are from New York, with one each from Connecticut, New Jersey and Tennessee.
New Faces
There are six new additions for the Minutewomen in 2009, five freshman and one sophomore transfer. Emily Cota (Green Lane, Pa.), Marissa Dos Santos (Ludlow, Mass.), Meredith Fox (Chalfont, Pa.), Jenna Goodwin (Weymouth, Mass.) and Jess Howe (Wilbraham, Mass.) are the five members of the freshman class.
Lauren Yelinek, a native of Ludlow, transferred closer to home after spending her freshman season at Texas Tech. Yelinek played in 13 matches for the Red Raiders in 2008 and tallied six assists, which tied for fifth-most in Texas Tech history for a single season.
Cota, who was tabbed a top-100 recruit by TopDrawerSoccer.com, was named to the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Rookie Team. She made her collegiate debut on Aug. 30 against Boston University and played a scoreless second half, making one save.
Marissa Dos Santos made her collegiate debut last Sunday, Oct. 4, playing nine minutes at Charlotte.
Cause for Celebration
Six players on the UMass rosters have in-season birthdays: Sydney Stoll (Sept. 16), Katie Ruggles (Sept. 17), Jess Howe (Oct. 1), Rachel Miranda (Oct. 21), Meghan Collins (Oct. 27) and Meghan Gould (Nov. 1).
Ruggles' and Gould's birthdays fall on game days this year (at Hartford and vs. Richmond).
Ruggles scored the game-tying goal against Hartford on her 21st birthday as UMass came from behind in a 1-1 draw with the Hawks.
Next Up
With the regular season winding down, the Minutewomen will make their final road trip next weekend as the squad will travel to Ohio to play Xavier on Oct. 23 and Dayton on Oct. 25. 
