MOUNT ST. MARY'S (0-0) at NJIT (0-0)
Thursday, August 17, 2023, 6 pm
Newark, N.J. | Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium
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MOUNT ST. MARY'S (0-0) at LAFAYETTE (0-0)
Sunday, August 20, 2023, 2 pm
Mike Bourger '44 Field at Oaks Stadium | Easton, Pa.
LIVE STATS | WATCH
The Mount St. Mary's women's soccer team opens the 2023 season with a pair of road games this week, starting with the season opener at NJIT on Thursday night. The Mount heads to Lafayette on Sunday to round out the weekend.
MOUNT UPDATE: Mount St. Mary's is looking to build on last year's first season in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Mountaineers posted a 3-6-7 overall record last season with a 2-5-3 mark in the MAAC. The Mount finished just two points shy of the final MAAC playoff spot. The seven ties set a school mark while the team's six losses are the fewest in a full season in school history (the Mount went 4-5 in the abbreviated 2021 COVID spring season). Â
ABOUT NJIT: NJIT posted a 5-8-6 overall record and a 2-4-2 mark in America East last year. Bailey Chant and Briana Abriola are the team's top returning scorers, having tied for the team lead last season with three goals each. Samantha Cosentine is the top returning goalkeeper. She started four games while appearing five last year, posting a 1.79 goals against average with 22 saves in 401:08 of action.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES WITH NJIT: Mount St. Mary's is 1-0-2 all-time against NJIT with all three meetings coming in consecutive seasons from 2008-10. The Mount won the first-ever matchup, 5-2, at home on Sept. 17, 2008. The teams then played to 1-1 draws in each of the next two years.
ABOUT LAFAYETTE: Lafayette, who plays at Seton Hall to open the year on Thursday, went 3-11-2 last year with a 1-6-2 mark in the Patriot League. April McDonald is the team's top returning scorer after finishing with three goals and two assists for eight points last year. Lindsay Dewar is the top returning goalkeeper after posting a 1.29 goals against average and 39 saves in 17 games played.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES WITH LAFAYETTE: Lafayette holds a 7-3-1 lead in the all-time series with the Mountaineers in a series that began in 1997. The teams have split the past five meetings (2-2-1) with the Mount capturing the last matchup, 2-0, on the road on September 23, 2007. All 11 meetings came in consecutive seasons from 1997-2007.
SEASON OPENERS:Â Mount St. Mary's kicks off its 32
nd season at NJIT on Thursday. The Mountaineers opened the season with a 1-1 draw at home against Western Carolina and are now 6-24-1 all-time in season-opening games. The Mount's last win in a season opener was a 6-1 victory at Delaware State on Feb. 24, 2021, in the COVID shortened season. The Mount is 4-17-0 on the road and 2-7-1 at home in season openers.
NEW FACES: The Mountaineers have eight new faces on the roster this season including four transfers and four freshmen. Transfers include goalkeepers
Klil Keshwar (St. Francis Brooklyn) and
Adalyn Gully (Rider) and midfielders
Annie Sorando (James Madison) and
Ally Krieger (Robert Morris). The freshmen are
Erin Antone,
Anika Berger,
Payton Meara and
Cassidy Nichols.
FIT TO BE TIED: Mount St. Mary's set a program record seven ties last season. The Mountaineers opened the season with back-to-back ties for the first time in school history with 1-1 ties against Western Carolina and Robert Morris. The Mount also owned a 1-1 draw with Radford, a scoreless tie with UNC Asheville, a 2-2 draw with Marist, a scoreless draw with Canisius and a 1-1 tie with Manhattan.
CLEAN SHEETS: Mount St. Mary's has posted five shutouts last year, matching the program record for shutouts in a season set by the 1996 squad. The Mountaineers allowed just 20 goals last year, recording a 1.25 goals against average. The 20 goals allowed are a school record for a full season, besting the mark of 21 goals allowed in 1995. In the abbreviated COVID season in the Spring of 2021, the Mount allowed 13 goals in nine games.
MAAC PRESEASON POLL: The Mountaineers were picked to finish in ninth place in the annual Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Preseason Coaches poll. Defending champion Quinnipiac was selected as the preseason favorite, tallying 115 points with six first-place votes.. 2022 Co-MAAC Regular Season Champions, Fairfield, finished as a close second in the poll, earning 112 points and four first-place votes, while 2022 Championship runner-up, Niagara was picked third, garnering 90 points and the final first-place vote. Canisius followed in fourth place, claiming 73 points and Rider closed out the league's top-five with 70 points. Iona, Marist, Siena, Mount St. Mary's, Saint Peter's and Manhattan rounded out the poll.
HEAD COACH MELISSA SHERWOOD:Â Head coach
Melissa Sherwood is in her second season at the helm of the Mount's women's soccer program. Last year, she guided the Mountaineers to a 3-6-7 record overall and a 2-5-3 mark in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. She earned her first win as the Mount's head coach in a 3-0 victory over Hampton on September 10 last year. Prior to coming to the Mount, she was the Associate Head Coach at Northwestern State, helping lead the Lady Demons to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2005. Sherwood was the head coach at Saint Peter's for four years (2016-19).
UP NEXT:Â The Mount returns home to face Towson on Thursday, August 24, at 2:00 p.m.
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