Women's Soccer Continues A-10 Play Home Against VCU, At Davidson

University of Massachusetts Women's Soccer Game Notes & Information
Game 10 & 11	Massachusetts (4-3-2) vs. VCU (4-1-3) \| Massachusetts (4-3-2) at Davidson (3-5-1)
Date \| Time	Thursday, September 21 // 3 p.m. \| Sunday, September 24 // 1 p.m.
Location	Amherst, Mass. // Rudd Field \| Davidson, N.C. // Alumni Soccer Stadium
Watch	ESPN+ VCU \| Davidson
Live Statistics	StatBroadcast (VCU) SideArm Stats (Davidson)
Twitter	@UMassWSoccer
Instagram	UMass Women's Soccer
Facebook	UMass Women's Soccer

AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts women's soccer continues Atlantic 10 Conference play on Thursday, September 21, when it hosts VCU at Rudd Field at 3 p.m., before making the trip to Davidson on Sunday, September 24, for a 1 p.m. contest. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.

Last Time Out
UMass holds a 4-3-2 overall record after going 1-1-0 last week, shutting out George Washington, 2-0, in the A-10 opener last Thursday and falling 1-0 on the road to Dayton on Sunday.

Massachusetts notched two early goals in the first half against George Washington. Junior midfielder Bella Recinos scored in the fourth minute, assisted by senior forward Grace Pinkus, while junior midfielder Ashley Lamond one-touched a pass from Recinos to score a goal of her own in the seventh minute. The Minutewomen defense kept strong to come out on top 2-0.

At Dayton, the Flyers broke through in the 14th minute, to make it a 1-0 game. Both teams had a few more scoring opportunities throughout the remainder of the first half and in the second half, but the lone goal of the day stood with Dayton.

Defending Fort Rudd
Massachusetts has remained undefeated at Rudd Field, holding a 3-0 record. It is the first time the program has been undefeated following Rudd Field's opening in the fall of 2002, including ties, since both the 2021 and 2008 seasons, when the team won six straight contests.

Additionally, the three consecutive home wins for the Minutewomen, mark the first time since the 2018 season, while marking the first time since the 2015 season they have recorded three straight shutout victories on their home turf.

Keeping Track
Graduate student defender Fiona Kane placed her name on the program's career games started list, tying for fourth with 80 games started on Sunday at Dayton, sharing the spot with Erin Lynch (1993-96). She will be solely taking over fourth on Thursday with 81 career starts, and will tied for third with Erica Iverson (1994-97) with 83 matches started next Thursday.

Kane is also tied for eighth, alongside Sandy Shimogaki (1993-96), in career games played with 80. On Thursday, she will tie for seventh with Amy Powell (1993-96) with 81 games played, and tie for fifth with both Emma Kurowski (1996-99) and Rachel LeDuc (1992-95) with 82 career games played.

Mendoza is three saves away from etching her name in the career records for the program. With three more saves, she would tie Danielle Kriscenski (2012-15) for 10th with 163 career saves.

Statistically Speaking
Lamond leads the team with 10 points and four goals, while tying for first with two assists. She currently tied for second with her goals total and tied for third in points in the Atlantic 10 Conference. She also sits tied for fourth in shots on goal with 12.

Junior defender Juliana Ryan sits tied for second in the A-10 with one game-winning goal.

Senior goalkeeper Bella Mendoza tallied over 724 minutes in net for the Minutewomen, averaging a .870 goals-against-average and a .816 save percentage. She has also accumulated three shutouts, combining for one on the year.

Mendoza has placed herself in the conference rankings, sitting eighth in GAA with a .870, while tying for eighth in total saves with 31. She is also tied for third in shutouts per game with a .333 average and is tied for second with three total shutouts.

Scouting VCU
The Rams hold a 4-1-3 advantage over the Minutewomen in the all-time series. The two programs first me on October 5, 2013, when VCU shutout UMass, 1-0, in double overtime. Massachusetts and VCU met last season on the road on September 15, with the game resulting in a 1-1 tie.

VCU sits at 3-4-2 overall and 2-0-0 in league competition, with shutout victories over UNCW (5-0), Richmond (1-0) and George Mason (5-0). The Rams tied William & Mary, 1-1, and Maryland, 0-0, while falling to Old Dominion, then-ranked No. 12 Virginia, and then-ranked No. 2 Stanford.

Anna Bagley leads VCU in points with 12 on a team-best three goals and a team-high six assists. Milica Bulatovic follows with seven points, registering three goals of her own on the year and one assist. Bulatovic and Kanna Matsuhisa both have a team-leading 21 shots, as 11 of Matsuhisa's shots have been on goal. Allison Karpovich has tallied 616 minutes in net for VCU, holding a 3-2-2 record with two solo shutouts and two combined. Karpovich averages a 1.17 GAA and a .750 save percentage, stopping 24 shots.

Scouting Davidson
The Minutewomen lead the all-time series over the Wildcats, 5-2-1. UMass and Davidson first met in Davidson, North Carolina, on November 2, as the contest resulted in a scoreless draw after double overtime. The two teams met last season on September 18, with UMass coming out on top, 3-1, at Rudd Field.

Davidson holds 3-5-1 overall record, including a 0-1-1 A-10 record, earning wins over Gardner-Webb (2-0), Wofford (2-0) and Presbyterian (3-0). The Wildcats tied Duquesne, 1-1, and dropped matches to East Tennessee State, UNC Asheville, Charleston Southern, Campbell and St. Bonaventure this season.

Aleia Gisolfi-McCready recorded a team-leading four points, tying a team-best two goals with Savannah Pruitt, and adding one assist. Pruitt follows close behind with four points with hertwo goals. Gisolfi-McCready owns a team-high 19 shots, including 10 on target, while Riley Patton has the second-most shots with 14, placing six on goal. Emily Smith has played in all nine contests for Davidson, accumulating 810 minutes in goal, with a .890 GAA and a .795 save percentage. Smith has turned aside 31 of 67 shots faced, allowing eight goals.

The Wildcats will compete against Dayton on Thursday, prior to Sunday's contest with Massachusetts.

Weekly Honors
Kane collected the first Atlantic 10 weekly accolade of the year for the Minutewomen on September 5. She earned A-10 Defensive Player of the Week after playing a key role for UMass' defense to post back-to-back 2-0 shutouts over Syracuse (8/31) and Bryant (9/3). Kane combined for 176 total minutes, playing the full 90 minutes against Syracuse and 86 minutes against Bryant.

Looking Ahead
UMass keeps rolling with A-10 competition, visiting Duquesne in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, September 28, for a 7 p.m. contest on ESPN+. The Minutewomen then return home to host Loyola Chicago on Sunday, October 1, for a 1 p.m. match.

Scoreboard

Women's Soccer Continues A-10 Play Home Against VCU, At Davidson

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Fiona Kane

Ashley Lamond

Bella Mendoza

Grace Pinkus

Bella Recinos

Juliana Ryan

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics