Pair Of UMass Soccer Doubleheaders On Rudd This Weekend

Oct. 29, 2009

AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass women's soccer team will wrap up the 2009 regular season this weekend with a pair of home matches against George Washington and Richmond, this Friday and Sunday, Oct. 30 and Nov. 1, at Rudd Field. Both matches for the Minutewomen (4-10-2, 3-6-0 A-10), will be part of UMass soccer doubleheaders as the Minutemen will also be in action at home. The women's game on Friday at 2:30 p.m. will follow the men's 12 p.m. start, while Sunday, the Minutewomen will play the opening match, beginning at 11 a.m.

Game Coverage

Friday: GameTracker | Watch

Sunday: GameTracker | Watch

Senior Salute

Prior to Sunday's match against Richmond, the Minutewomen will honor the four seniors from this year's squad who will be closing out their UMass careers: Cristina Adams, Lauren Luckey, Katie Ruggles and Jacquelyn Desjardins.

Between them, the group has played in a total of 178 matches over their four years with the Minutewomen. Scouting George Washington

George Washington comes into the match this Friday at 6-7-4 overall and 3-4-2 in the Atlantic 10. The Colonials have a non-conference record of 3-2-3. George Washington enters itd UMass having won two straight games, most recently against Duquesne (1-0).

Four players have two or more goals for the Colonials. Brittany Eger and Ashley Starks lead GW with four goals each. Sierra Smidinger and Misa Eiritz round out the scoring quartet with two goals apiece.

Two goalkeepers have seen action for George Washington, Bridget Mahon and Lindsey Rowe. Rowe has appeared in 16 games with 16 starts for 1523:04 minutes and holds a 1.24 goals against average and a .784 save percentage. Mahon follows with 110:00 minutes, a 0.82 goals against average and a .750 save percentage, having played and started one game.

Scouting Richmond

Richmond, who will play at Rhode Island on Friday evening, enters the weekend at 8-8-2 overall and 4-4-1 in the Atlantic 10. The Spiders' conference wins have come against La Salle, Temple, Saint Joseph's, and George Washington. Richmond will be looking to snap a two game losing streak this weekend after dropping its past two matches to Duquesne (0-1) and St. Bonaventure (0-1).

At least 10 players have points for Richmond. Natalie LeClair and Shondel Archer are the top point producers for the Spiders. Archer has seven goals, two assists and a total of 16 points. LeClair has four goals and two assists for a total of 10 points.

Three goalkeepers have seen action for the Spiders: Allie Albright, Melissa Pacheco, and Andrea Young. Pacheco has played in 12 games and holds a 1.17 goals against average with a .833 save percentage in 1072:52 minutes. Young has played in seven games and holds a 1.21 goals against average with a .810 save percentage in 593:18 minutes.

Series History

Since first facing George Washington in 1981, the Minutewomen are 16-6-3 all-time against the Colonials. UMass' last victory in the season came on Sept. 29, 2006 when the Minutewomen came away with a 1-0 win at home. In 2007, the teams played to a 2-2 tie on Rudd Field, while GW defeated UMass, 2-0, in Washington, D.C., last season on Oct. 3.

UMass is 1-7-0 all-time in its series with Richmond, which began in 2001. The Minutewomen's lone victory over the Spiders came at home in overtime on Nov. 2, 2007. Current senior Jacquelyn Desjardins assisted on the game-winning goal in the 2-1 UMass victory.
Scoring Summary

Nine UMass players have combined for a total of 34 points, led by junior Therese Smtih with 12 points on five goals and two assists. Redshirt junior Sydney Stoll follows with nine points on four goals and one assist and senior Cristina Adams has four points on two goals. Freshman Meredith Fox and senior Katie Ruggles have scored one goal apiece.

Smith has at least one point in the past five straight home games and has scored in three of the past four matches overall. The junior midfielder has surpassed her career high for goals (3) and points (8) in a season, her final totals from 2008 as a sophomore.

Adams Recognized By A-10

Senior Cristina Adams was named Co A-10 Women's Soccer Player of the Week on Oct. 19 after scoring two key goals in the Minutewomen's 3-2 victory over Rhode Island on Oct. 17.

Adams scored the first goal of the game in the 27th minute to put UMass up 1-0 and her second tally of the day broke a 1-1 tie at 79:57.

The two-goal game marked the first multi-point game of Adams' career and set a new career high in points at four.

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 14 games with seven starts for a total of 1015:46 minutes. She holds a 1.86 goals against average and a .772 save percentage with 71 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 16 matches, the Minutewomen have played five overtime games and have a 0-3-2 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. Yelinek had her first point as a Minutewoman, assisting on Cristina Adams' second goal of the game in UMass' 3-2 win over Rhode Island on Oct. 17.

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.

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Cristina Adams

Vanessa Patry

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics