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While the student body is enjoying fall break, the University of Maine women’s soccer team will be busy with a pair of games over the weekend against Hartford University and Sacred Heart University.
The Black Bears will put their two-game unbeaten streak on the line Friday when they host the Hartford Hawks in an America East Conference game.
UMaine enters the game with a 3-5-1 record overall and 0-1-1 in the conference. The Black Bears, who picked up their first conference point Sunday with a 0-0 tie against Binghamton University, are chasing Hartford in the conference standings. The Hawks are 1-0-0 in America East play, 6-4-0 overall.
Hartford comes to Orono riding a three-game winning streak. In those three games, the Hawks have outscored their opponents 8-2. Included in the winning streak is a 3-1 win over Pacific-10 Conference school University of California and a 3-0 victory over Northeastern University in their only conference game.
After shutting down Binghamton’s Tracy Kasmarick, the league’s leading scorer, the UMaine defense will be in for another test. Hartford features four of the conference’s top 10 scorers.
Jeanette Akerlund, a junior forward, leads Hartford with six goals and five assists. Akerlund’s point total places her second in the America East. Not far behind is junior back Cindy Walsh, who has registered four goals and four assists, placing her fourth in the league.
Katharina Linder, a senior midfielder from Kleinostheim, Germany, ranks seventh in the league with four goals and three assists. Tini Lyng, a senior midfielder, is tied for eighth with three goals and four assists. As a team, Hartford has racked up 24 goals in 10 games.
The UMaine offense has managed 16 goals on the season and should counter with a balanced scoring attack.
The Black Bears have eight players who have recorded at least one goal. Junior forward Annie Hamel leads the way with four goals, followed by Heather Hathorn, a true-freshman forward, with three. Kim Walsh, a junior midfielder, and Allison Kelly, a sophomore back, each have three assists.
UMaine should hold the edge in goalkeeping. Senior Naomi Welsh is the conference’s leading goalie with a 0.88 goals against average. Hartford keeper Heather Hinton, a junior, is fourth with a goals against average of 1.12.
The game is crucial for both teams. A loss would drop the Black Bears five points behind a playoff spot with only five America East games remaining, three of which are on the road. A win for Hartford would improve their record to a perfect 2-0-0 in the conference.
On Sunday, UMaine will take a break from conference play when they take on the Pioneers of Sacred Heart University. Sacred Heart, a member of the Northeast Conference, brings a 6-3-1 record into the game.
Like Hartford, Sacred Heart has been on a roll recently winning four in a row. Sacred Heart has posted wins over America East schools Northeastern University and the University of Albany thus far this year.
The Pioneers are led by Paula Pineda, a junior forward from Vigo, Spain, who is the conference Player of the Week. Pineda recorded four goals and two assists while leading Sacred Heart to three wins to earn the honor.
Sacred Heart will counter UMaine’s Welsh with an outstanding goaltender of their own, junior Leslie Konsig. Konsig leads the league with a sparkling goals against average of 0.50. Konsig has recorded seven shutouts in only ten games.
Sacred Heart, the defending Northeast Conference champion, enters the game tied for third in the league with seven points. They trail Central Connecticut State Univeristy, which has been perfect in the conference thus far with twelve points.
Game time on Friday against Hartford is at 3 p.m. The action against Sacred Heart will begin on Sunday at 1 p.m.
