Akron Hosts UMass in MAC Women's Soccer Opener

Thursday, September 18

Akron, Ohio

2:00 PM

University of Akron

Massachusetts

September 17 | Women's Soccer

AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron women's soccer team opens Mid-American Conference play welcoming the league's newest member UMass to FirstEnergy Stadium for a 2 p.m. matinee affair on Thursday (Sept. 18).

GAME INFO
Akron vs. UMass | Sept. 18 | 2 PM | FirstEnergy Stadium | Live Stats | Live Video

PARKING UPDATE
Akron fans are asked to please park in Lots 6 (Along S. Union Street between InfoCision Stadium-Summa Field and Lee R. Jackson Track and Field Complex) and Lot 10 (Corner of Vine and Spicer Streets behind the Stile Athletics Field House). Overflow parking will be available in Lot 9. All other parking lots will require a university permit. If parking at metered spaces outside of these designated lots, meters must be paid in full and current.

HEAD COACHES
UMass: Jason Dowiak (College of Charleston, 2003), Overall Record: 103-97-28 (13th Season), Record at UMass: 67-45-23 (Eighth Season)
Akron: Maggie Kuhn (Bethany, 2004), Overall Record: 81-85-14 (10th Season), Record at Akron: 3-2-1 (First Season)

SCOUTING AKRON
The Zips dropped a 3-0 decision at Dayton on Sept. 12 to move to 3-2-1 on the campaign, including 0-0-0 in the Mid-American Conference.

Freshman Addison Hall (Manchester, Conn.) and Emma King (Akron, Ohio) lead the Zips in goals (2), while senior Kylie Schiemann (Geneva, Ohio) along with freshmen Fineen Cregan (Rochester, N.Y.), Luisa Fragnoli (Medina, Ohio) and Olivia Pilato (Rochester, N.Y.) have each tallied a goal. King directs the squad in shots (15) and shots on goal (9). Cregan and junior Jordanne Oberhaus (Wadsworth, Ohio) own a team-best two assists apiece for Akron. Junior goalkeeper Sara Bower (Cincinnati, Ohio) and redshirt freshman GK Ariana Vakos own 245 and three saves, respectively, on the campaign en route to posting three shutouts and recording a 1.50 goals against average.

The Zips under the leadership of first-year head coach Maggie Kuhn return six starters in 2025, including sophomores Kailyn Biecker (Wadsworth, Ohio) and Olivia Heskett (Lewis Center, Ohio), King, Oberhaus, sophomore Kaitlyn Rogowski (Hilliard, Ohio) and redshirt sophomore Rachel Wenzel (Akron, Ohio).

Akron is led by team captains Bower and seniors Kaylen Goddard (Mechanicsville, Md.) and King as well as fellow returning players Schiemann, junior Emalee Szablewski (Lancaster, N.Y.) and sophomores Addison Lambert (Galena, Ohio), Allie McMillen (Shreve, Ohio), Eesha Sutharshan (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Vakos.

The Zips are bolstered by a talented 11-member 2025 signing class, which includes eight freshmen and three transfers.

The Zips boast 11 newcomers to the squad as donning the Akron uniform this fall will be senior Rielly Chesna (Chicago, Ill.), junior Lilly Touhey (Fishers, Ind.), sophomore Taylor Allen (Blacksburg, Va.) and freshmen Freya Blatz (Bethel Park, Pa.), Fiona Buczak (Brunswick, Ohio), Cregan, Fragnoli, Hall, Bailey Kerins (Dublin, Ohio), Pilato and Devyn Raymond (Shelby Township, Mich.).

FOUR ZIPS HONORED ON SENIOR DAY
The Zips' contest versus Green Bay on Aug. 31 marked Senior Day for four Zips as seniors Rielly Chesna, Kaylen Goddard, Emma King and Kylie Schiemann were honored in pregame ceremonies.

In her first season at Akron, Chesna has started all six games for the Zips, en route to registering an assist, while sparking the squad to a pair of shutouts.

Goddard has appeared in 49 contests, including 37 starts, en route to recording 11 shots, with three shots coming on goal, and leading Akron to 13 shutouts over her career.

King has appeared in 46 contests, including 39 starts, en route to collecting a team-best 12 goals, five assists, 29 points and four game-winners fueled by 77 shots, including 43 on goal.

Schiemann has appeared in 39 contests, including 15 starts, en route to registering a goal and an assist on the strength of 16 shots, with nine shots falling on frame.

AKRON NOTES
• Akron is meeting UMass for the first time in program history.
• Emma King ranks fourth in program history in goals per tilt (.261) and points per game (.631), seventh in game-winning goals (4), eighth in career goals (12) and points (29), ninth in assists per match (.109) and 11th in career assists (5).
• Sara Bower is rated sixth in shutouts (5) and eighth in goals against average (1.71), career saves (130) and goalie victories (7).
• Addison Hall's two-goal effort versus Southern Indiana represented the first brace for an Akron freshman King netted a pair of tallies in a 5-0 win past Toledo on Oct. 23, 2022, at FirstEnergy Stadium.
• Akron is ranked second in the Mid-American Conference and 76th nationally in attendance averaging 622 fans per contest.
• Bower is rated 47th in the NCAA in shutouts (3), while King is 40th in game-winning goals (2).
• King leads Akron's active leaders in career goals (12), assists (5), points (29), shots (77), shots on goal (43) and game-winners (4), while Bower paces active Zips in career saves (130), goals against average (1.71) and save percentage (.739).
• The Zips rank second in the MAC in shutouts (3) and fourth in assists per tilt (1.33).
• King is rated first in the MAC in game-winners (2), second in shots on goal (1.50), sixth in shots (2.50) per game, eighth in total goals (2) and ninth in total points (5) and in points per outing (0.83), while Bower leads the league in shutouts (3), fourth in saves per game (4.00) and eighth in save percentage (.750). Additionally, Fineen Cregan is ranked fourth in assists (2) and fifth in assists per match (0.33), Hall is eighth in total goals (2) and ninth in total points (5) and points per game (0.83) and Jordanne Oberhaus is fifth in total assists (2) and assists per match (0.33).
• Bower's nine-save performance at Dayton (Sept. 12) stands as a conference-best single-game effort this season.
• Hall's five-point effort (2 goal | 1 assist) and two-goal match versus Southern Indiana (Aug. 24) represent single-game league-high performance in 2025.
• Cregan posted a league-high two assists in Akron's 5-3 win over Southern Indiana (Aug. 24).
• Akron registered single-game MAC-leading marks in points (15), goals (5) and assists (5) versus Southern Indiana (Aug. 24), while tallying a conference-best nine saves at Dayton (Sept. 12).
• Six different Zips have scored a goal this season, including four newcomers.
• Fourteen Zips have registered a shot this season, including six newcomers.
• The Zips saw their shutout streak snapped after seven consecutive non-conference regular season contests with a 3-0 setback at West Virginia (Aug. 21). Akron went 5-0-2 mark in those contests and outshot the opposition, 84-70. Bower posted 19 saves in those games, while King added a team-best 15 shots with nine falling on frame.
• The Zips posted shutouts in seven consecutive non-conference contests and didn't surrender a goal in those games in more than 800 minutes (802:16).
• Ariana Vakos made her collegiate debut in the second half at West Virginia (Aug. 21) recording a pair of saves.
• A trio of newcomers earned their first career start at Akron against Purdue Fort Wayne in Rielly Chesna, Luisa Fragnoli and Lilly Touhey. Overall, eight newcomers have appeared for the Zips this season.
• The Zips recorded the squad's initial seven-game unbeaten streak since 2007 in 2024. The unbeaten streak matched the longest in program history set during both the 2006 and 2007 campaigns.
• Akron matched its 2006 squad as the only Zips' teams to post an unbeaten record in non-conference play.
• Akron posted the second most shutouts in a non-conference campaign in school history, trailing only the 2006 squad that registered six straight to open the 2006 season.
• Akron posted five consecutive shutouts for the first time since the 2009 campaign.
• The four 1-0 clean sheet victories last season represented the second-highest total in program history matching identical marks in 2007, 2009 and 2011. The 2006 Akron team holds the top mark with six 1-0 wins.
• The six shutouts by the Zips were the most for Akron in a season since posting seven in the 2011 campaign.

SCOUTING UMASS
UMass enters play against Akron at 2-3-2 on the campaign, including 0-1-0 in the Mid-American Conference following a 1-0 setback versus Ball State on Sunday (Sept. 14).

The Minutewomen have garnered one goal apiece from five different players this season in sophomores Morgan Bellamy, Amelia Bloom and Peyton Costello and freshmen Amelia Deren and Kaila Steen. Redshirt freshman GK Leah Nisenfeld has posted 40 saves en route to collecting a 1.43 goals against average and two shutouts.

UMass is rated 38th in the NCAA in saves per game (5.71) with Nisenfeld ranked 29th in saves per contest (5.71) and 37th in total saves (40).

SERIES HISTORY
Akron and UMass are meeting for the first time in program history.

UP NEXT
Akron visits Ohio for a 1 p.m. conference tilt on Sunday (Sept. 21) in Athens, Ohio.