Akron Women's Soccer Host Niagara Before Visiting Morehead State

Thursday, August 29

Akron, Ohio

7 PM

University of Akron

Niagara

Akron Women's Soccer Host Niagara Before Visiting Morehead State

August 28 | Women's Soccer

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Akron vs. Niagara Gamenotes (PDF) (PDF)

Akron (0-2-0) vs. Niagara (1-0-0)
Thursday, August 29
Akron, Ohio • FirstEnergy Stadium • 7:00 p.m.
Live Stats: GoZips.com
Watch: GoZips.com
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Akron vs. Morehead State Gamenotes (PDF) (PDF)

Akron (0-1-0) vs. Morehead State (0-2-0)
Sunday, Sept. 1
Morehead, Ky. • Jayne Stadium • 2:00 p.m.
Live Stats: GoZips.com
Watch: GoZips.com

•••

What's Ahead
Following the first weekend of play in the 2019 campaign, the Akron women's soccer team is back on the pitch over the holiday weekend with a pair of contests including one match at FirstEnergy Stadium and one contest on the road. Akron hosts Niagara on Thursday, Aug. 29, in front of its home crowd and under the lights at 7 p.m. The Zips then head to Morehead, Ky., to take on Morehead State on Sunday, Sept. 1 for a 2 p.m. scheduled contest.

Scouting the Purple Eagles
Through one week of the 2019 women's soccer season, Niagara stands 1-0-0 heading into its contest against the Zips. The Purple Eagles defeated Massachusetts Lowell, 2-1, in its season home opener on Aug. 22. In the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference preseason poll, NU was predicted to place sixth overall in league play.

A pair of the Purple Eagles forwards, Kelsey Araujo and Annie Ibey, were selected to the 2019 All-MAAC preseason squad. Both Araujo and Ibey lived up to their preseason honor and scored one goal each against UMass Lowell, including the game-winner off the foot of Araujo. Against the River Hawks, Niagara tallied 14 shots, five shots on goal, two goals, two assists, and six total points.

In net, Sabrina Locas pitched in six saves and allowed one goal in her season debut for NU. In 2018, Locas played in 10 matches, allowed 14 goals, made 48 saves, and tallied a 1.36 goals-against average.

Scouting the Eagles
Two games into the 2019 campaign, Morehead State owns a 0-2-0 overall record following a pair of contests against Butler and Louisville. The Eagles fell to the Bulldogs, 3-0, on Aug. 22 at home before dropping a 3-0 result to the Cardinals on Aug. 25. In the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll, the Eagles were picked to place ninth in the league.

Nicole Palmer, an OVC preseason watchlist selection, returns for her sophomore season after her rookie season saw 19 starts, 1,553 minutes of action, 17 shots, one goal, and one assist. The Purple Eagles have registered four shots on the year by four different players, including Nicole Flantaco, Palmer, Holly Logsdon, and Eva Kiper.

A pair of Eagles have seen time in-between the pipes for Morehead State. Grace Gaffney has seen the most action for MSU competing in two contests and making one start. In 135 minutes of play, Gaffney has made three saves and allowed three goals.

Series History
Akron searches for its first win against Niagara in program history as the two sides are scheduled to meet for the sixth time in program history. The Purple Eagles own a 4-0-1 record against the Zips since their first meeting in 2002.

The Zips have seen success against Morehead State on the pitch since their inaugural meeting in 2005. Akron holds a 4-2 record against the Eagles, is 2-0 when playing in Morehead, Ky., and has captured a victory in two of the last three meetings.

Coaches
Niagara: Peter Veltri is a three-time MAAC Coach of the Year, led Niagara to its first conference championship and a NCAA Tournament appearance in 2006. In his tenure, Veltri has tallied an overall record of 182-163-33

Morehead State: Waren Lipka who is in his 11th season at the helm of the Eagles program. Lipka has led Morehead State to 78 wins in his tenure, guided the Eagles to two OVC tournament championships and NCAA Tournament appearances (2010, 2013), and was named OVC coach of the year three times (2009, 2010, 2013).

Akron: Noreen Herlihy is in her fifth season on the sidelines as the head coach of The University of Akron's women's soccer program. She owns a 20-47-12 record leading the Zips since taking over the program. Since taking over the program in 2015, Herlihy has led Akron to the Mid-American Conference postseason tournament twice and advanced to the semi-final round for the first time in program history in 2015. Herlihy has coached seven All-MAC honorees, 25 student-athletes have been named to the Academic All-MAC team, and her team has been recognized as a Collegiate Team Academic Award winner by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) for four straight seasons.

Zips Tidbits

The Zips roster consists of seven players from Ohio, eight from Pennsylvania, one from Kentucky, two from Germany, two from England, one from Minnesota, and one from Ireland.
The Zips roster consists of one student-athlete who is a dual-citizen Kat Costa (Germany).
Lexie Kolano competed for The University of Cincinnati in her freshman season before transferring to Akron for a fresh start. Kolano scored one goal in 14 games for UC and four goals in her first season at Akron for a total of five collegiate goals scored.
The Zips return its starting defensive backline from 2018 including senior Ashley Amato (Pittsburgh, Pa.), junior Abigail Brown (Batavia, Ohio), junior Ryley Watt (Irwin, Pa.), and freshman Kayleigh Penton (Vermilion, Ohio). The quartet played a combined 6,774 minutes of action and aided in the Zips five shutouts.
Junior Anya Donelan (Warrington, England) competed at Monroe college for two seasons (2017-18), scored two goals and eight assists in her career. Donelan and Monroe College captured the 2018 National Junior College Athletic Association championship and went undefeated.
The six international student-athletes are the most on an Akron roster in program history.
Lucia Lobato and Aislinn Meaney are the first Irish student-athletes to compete on a Zips women's soccer squad in program history.
Seven Zips made their Akron debuts against Charlotte, including Aislinn Meaney, Vanessa Berlin, Lucia Lobato, Libby Harper, Anya Donelan, Bailee Bowers, and Emily Clopp.
Despite the two results, Akron registered 20 shots in its first two contests including nine shots on goal.
Redshirt sophomore Charley Kale scored her first career goal and the first goal of the season for the Zips against Cleveland State.
Freshman Lucia Lobato earned her first collegiate assist and registered the first assist of the season for the Zips in Akron's match with Cleveland State.
Despite the result, Akron outshot CSU, 15-9, and owned the advantage in corner kicks, 4-1.
Aislinn Meaney ranks third in the Mid-American Conference in total shots (10) while Libby Harper ranks fifth in GAA (.837), fifth in saves (5, .833), and 10th in saves per game (2.50).

Up Next
Week three for the Akron women's soccer team is slated for a third mix and match weekend of home and away soccer for the Zips. Akron begins the third weekend of non-conference play visiting Youngstown State on Friday, Sept. 6 before returning to FirstEnergy Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 8 to host Xavier.