LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell women's soccer team (1-1-0, 0-0-0 AE) returns to Cushing Field to host the Boston University Terriers (1-1-0, 0-0-0 PL) on Thursday, August 25 before heading to Storrs, Connecticut to take on the UConn Huskies (1-0-1, 0-0-0 BE) on Sunday, August 28.
August 25 vs. Boston University (AE.tv – 7:30 p.m.)
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August 28 at UConn (FloSports – 1:00 p.m.)
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LOOKING AT UMASS LOWELL
The River Hawks enter Thursday's contest after going 1-1-0 in the opening week of the season. UMass Lowell began the season with a win at home, defeating Merrimack 2-1 behind goals from sophomore
Ioanna Papatheodorou (Nea Erithraia, Greece) and junior
Chloe Layne (Wrentham, Mass.). On Sunday, the River Hawks fell to the #19 Georgetown Hoyas by a score of 3-0 in the nation's capital. Layne and Papatheodorou lead the team with three points each. All three goalkeepers have seen time in net already this season. Redshirt junior
Taylor Burgess (Mendon, Mass.) leads the team with nine saves while freshman Bára Beránková (Hradec Králové, Czech Republic) earned her first career win against Merrimack.
SCOUTING THE TERRIERS
Boston University comes to Lowell after going 1-1 in their opening two games of the season. The Terriers opened the season with two home games, falling to Northeastern 1-0 before defeating Providence 2-1 last time out. Thursday's game will be the first road game for Boston University this season. Giulianna Gianino and Sophia Woodland lead the team with one goal apiece this season. Lily Matthews and Kayla Ross have each tallied an assist while Gretchen Bennett has a 1-1 record in goal, making five saves this season.
MATCHUP HISTORY
Thursday will be just the second meeting between the two teams. Last time out, the River Hawks and Terriers played to a 1-1 draw in Boston on August 23, 2021. Papatheodorou scored the goal for UMass Lowell.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
UConn has started the season with a 1-0-1 record after tying Army in the opening game of the season on the road. The Huskies picked up their first win of the season with a 6-0 thumping of Syracuse on Sunday. They will play host to South Carolina on Thursday, August 25 before hosting UMass Lowell on August 28. Abbey Jones leads the way with two goals and one assist for five points. Five other Huskies' have found the back of the net this season. Kaitlyn Mahoney made both starts in goal and has a 0.50 goals against and six saves this season.
MATCHUP HISTORY
Sunday will be the second meeting between UMass Lowell and UConn. The first matchup took place on September 21, 2019, where the Huskies came away with a 2-1 overtime win in Lowell. Graduate student
Emily Nelson (Peabody, Mass.) scored the goal for the River Hawks in the loss.
DYNAMIC DUO
Last season,
Ioanna Papatheodorou was the top scorer in the America East Conference with 10 goals while
Chloe Layne finished tied for fourth in the league with six goals of her own. With the addition of Layne to the 2022 roster, a new partnership has been created and the two strikers are building chemistry. In the season opener against Merrimack, Layne assisted Papathedorou's goal, and the sophomore returned the favor, assisting Layne's game-winning goal. The River Hawks will look to them for more offensive production as the season continues.
VETERAN CORE
The River Hawks have returned four veteran members of the team this season in
Emily Nelson, graduate students
Dunja Mostarac (Belgrade, Serbia) and
Lily Fabian (Monson, Mass.) and redshirt senior
Chaima Khammar (Cologne, Germany). The veteran leadership group has been key in getting the newcomers acclimated and raising the level of play on the field. Having been through several seasons, the group leads by example on and off the field.
INSTANT IMPACT
Several newcomers have already made an impact on the River Hawks this season. Both freshmen goalkeepers in Beránková and
Mia Robinson (Greenland, N.H.) have played 45 minutes in net and contributed to the team's first win of the year. Fellow freshmen
Sophie St. George (Walpole, Mass.) and
Nadja Andersen (Nakskov, Denmark) have seen game action in both games this season, each registering two shots and driving the offense forward.
