UMBC

JoAnne Jackson is one of five seniors who will be honored before Thursday's game.

BALTIMORE--The UMBC women’s soccer team (2-12-1, 1-5-0 AE) closes out the regular season this week with a pair of America East Conference matches. The Retrievers will host New Hampshire (3-12-1, 2-4-0 AE) on Thursday at 3 p.m. at UMBC Soccer Stadium and will visit defending league champion Boston University (9-5-2, 5-1-0 AE) on Sunday at 1 p.m. Prior to Thursday’s game against the Wildcats, UMBC will honor its five seniors – defenders LaShawna Epps (Baltimore, Md./Mercy), Katie McKay (Baltimore, Md./Eastern Tech), Naomi Opaleye (Dallas, Texas/Lake Highlands) and Arielle Tagger (East Brunswick, N.J.) and midfielder JoAnne Jackson (Portland, Ore./Lincoln) – who will be playing in their final home game.

Last Time Out: The Retrievers fell to America East rival Binghamton (7-6-1, 4-2-0 AE) by a score of 2-0 on Sunday afternoon at the Bearcats Sports Complex.  UMBC sophomore goalie Mo Van Vlerah (Ijamsville, Md./Northwest) recorded 10 saves in the game. 

On the Wildcats: New Hampshire is coming off a 2-0 home loss to Maine on Sunday… Ten different players have scored for the Wildcats this season, led by senior forward Morgan Keefe, who has tallied six points on two goals and two assists… Senior goalkeeper Ally Yost has started all 16 games between the pipes, tallying 91 saves and recording an .812 save percentage and a 1.32 goals-against average… UNH ranks third in the conference with 201 shots on the season, but ranks last with 11 goals.

The Series: New Hampshire leads the all-time series, 5-1-0. UMBC’s only win occurred in the teams’ first-ever meeting, Oct. 26, 2003, a 1-0 decision. Last season, the Wildcats won 3-0 in Durham, N.H.

On the Terriers: Boston U., who will play non-conference foe Bryant on Wednesday before hosting UMBC, regained its position atop the America East standings with its 1-0 win over Hartford on Sunday… The Terriers have won nine of their last 10 games with six shutouts… Sophomore midfielder Jessica Luscinski leads Boston with 13 points and seven assists, while senior midfielder Emily Pallotta is tops with five goals… Eleven different players have found the back of the net for the Terriers this season, including seven with more than one goal…  Four Terriers rank in the conference top 10 in points… Senior goalkeeper Janie Reilly has seen the majority of the team’s minutes between the pipes and boasts a league-best 0.59 GAA and an .852 save percentage, which ranks second in the conference… She has only allowed eight goals in 16 games... Boston U. leads the America East in shots (268), points (72), goals (25) and assists (22) this season… The Terriers’ 13 goals allowed and 0.74 team GAA are also best in the league.

The Series: Boston U. leads the all-time series, 6-0-0, with four of the six games resulting in shutouts. Last season, the Terriers defeated the Retrievers, 2-1, in Baltimore. Forward Brooke Piper (London, Ontario/A.B. Lucas) scored her first career goal for UMBC.

Vote Van Vlerah: Van Vlerah is among nine players nominated for the 2009 America East Women’s Soccer Fans’ Choice Player of the Year. Voting runs until 12 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 26 at AmericaEast.com, and the winner will be announced on Tuesday, Oct. 27. Only one vote per person and per valid email address will be accepted. Click here to vote now.

Saving the Day: Van Vlerah leads the America East with 102 saves on the season and ranks second with 6.8 saves per game. She is the first Retriever to crack the 100-save plateau since 1995, and she boasts the fifth-highest single-season total in UMBC history. Van Vlerah stopped a career-high 14 shots at George Mason on Sept. 22, and she recorded her first career shutout against Hartford on Oct. 11. She has started all 15 games this season and has played in all but 30 minutes.

Spreading the Wealth: Nine different players have scored for UMBC this season, the most since 12 Retrievers found the back of the net in 2004. The Retrievers are led by sophomore midfielder Danielle Kell (Willards, Md./Parkside) and junior midfielder Sandra Vacarino (Mantua, N.J./Clearview Regional), who each have six points on two goals and two assists.

Underclassmen on Top: Of UMBC’s 39 goals since 2007, 31 have been scored by underclassmen, including 21 by freshmen. Both of the Retrievers’ game winners this season have been scored by rookies in back Aly Gazarek (Manassas, Va./Freedom/South Florida) and forward Rachel McKee (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron).

Offensive Outburst: After scoring just two goals through the first eight games of the season, the Retrievers tallied nine in two contests against Delaware State and Vermont, and they now have12 on the year, surpassing last season’s total. The nine goals were the most UMBC has scored in two games since tallying 13 from Sept. 20-22, 2002 with a 1-0 win over Delaware and a 12-0 victory over Delaware State, while the five goals against Vermont are the most the Retrievers have scored in one game since a 5-1 victory over Howard on Sept. 30, 2005.

Vacarino Vanquishes: Vacarino scored the first two goals of the game against the Catamounts, then added an assist on the final tally to finish with five points. It was the first multi-goal game for a Retriever since Morgan Warrington scored twice at Albany on Oct. 26, 2008, and the first five-point game by a Retriever since Lori Quintavalle posted six at Mount St. Mary’s on Oct. 25, 2002. Vacarino’s totals against Vermont matched her career totals from her first two seasons at UMBC.

Extra, Extra: The Retrievers’ double-overtime tie with George Washington on Sept. 18 was their first overtime game since Oct. 7, 2007, at Maine, and their first tie since Sept. 21, 2007, at Sacred Heart. UMBC then went to extra time with VMI on Sept. 24 for its second game of more than 90 minutes this season after not playing one for nearly two years.

Follow the Retrievers: UMBC fans can now keep up with their favorite teams in a number of new ways, as UMBC Athletics is now on social networking sites Facebook and Twitter.