Sept. 11, 2009
AMHERST, Mass. -
The UMass women's soccer team travels to Durham, N.H., on Sunday to take on New Hampshire in a 2 p.m. contest, its first of two straight matches on the road. Both squads will be looking to get back on the winning track as the Wildcats have dropped their past three games and the Minutewomen are coming off an overtime heartbreaker against Albany.
Game Coverage
Live Stats
UMass-New Hampshire Series History
UMass owns a convincing 17-2-2 record in the all-time series history.
The first game between the two schools was in the program's fourth-ever contest, a 2-0 win in the Plymouth State Tournament during the inaugural 1978 varsity campaign.
The last UMass win came in 2001, a 3-0 victory on Sept. 28.
Last season, the Minutewomen played to a 2-2 draw against the Wildcats on Rudd Field. Current assistant coach Vanessa Patry scored both UMass goals with assists from Katie Ruggles and Meghan Collins.
America East Flavor
New Hampshire is one of four teams from the America East conference that UMass will face before beginning Atlantic 10 play on Sept. 20 vs. St. Joseph's.
UMass plays three straight games against America East squads: Albany (Sept. 9), New Hampshire (Sept. 13) and Hartford (Sept. 17). The Minutewomen fell in its first two matchup against AE opponent, 2-0 to Boston University on Aug. 30 and 1-0 in double overtime versus Albany.
Two members of the UMass coaching staff have previously been assistants at America East institutions. Angela Napoli spent the 2004 season as an assistant coach for Albany, while John Conlon was an assistant coach at his alma mater, New Hampshire, from 2005 to 2008.
Scouting New Hampshire
The Wildcats enter Sunday's match with a mark of 1-3-0, including a 2-0 win over another A-10 school, Rhode Island, but has since dropped its last three straight to St. John's (2-0), Siena (3-2, 2OT) and Harvard (1-0).
Morgan Keefe paces UNH with three points on one goal and one assist. Cassie Guerra, Allie Coppenrath and Alli Rozelle have all scored goals as well. Monique Lamotte and Stephanie Gilkenson have one assist apiece.
Ally Yost has played all 371 minutes in net thus far and has a 1.46 goals against average and a .769 save percentage.
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 all four matches thus far.
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).
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.
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).
Next Up
UMass will take on Hartford in Hartford, Conn., on Thursday, Sept. 17 at 6 p.m. 
