ORONO, Maine – The University of Maine soccer team is off to Worcester, Mass., on Thursday night to take on the Holy Cross Crusaders of the Patriot League.  
 
GAME INFORMATION
Maine Black Bears at Holy Cross Crusaders
DATE: Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017
TIME: 7:05 p.m.
SITE: Linda Johnson Smith Soccer Stadium – Worcester, Mass. (natural grass)
2017 RECORDS: Maine 0-1-1, Holy Cross 1-2-0
VIDEO: Patriot League Network
LIVE STATS: GoHolyCross.com
TWITTER: @BlackBearSoccer
 
About Maine
• On Sunday at Mahaney Diamond, Maine dropped a 3-0 decision to defending CAA champion Northeastern.
• It was the Black Bears second game in less than 48 hours, as the squad had traveled to Providence, R.I. on Friday night to take on the Bears of Brown.
• The Black Bears took a 1-0 lead in the 77th minute on junior Mikayla Morin's first career goal but Brown tied it up five minutes later and then eked out a goal seven minutes into the first overtime period for the 2-1 win.
• Sophomore Annalena Kriebisch made six saves between the pipes for Maine against the Huskies and had eight saves on Friday night against the Bears.
 
About Holy Cross
• The Crusaders enter Thursday's contest – which is their fourth-straight home match to open the year – with an overall record of 1-2-0.
• After starting the year with two straight losses against Quinnipiac (3-4, OT) and Northeastern (0-2), Holy Cross got its first win of the season on Aug. 24 over Hartford (1-0).
• Ang Seslija leads Holy Cross with four points on two goals while Christina Callahan and Megan Lawlor have one goal each.
• Caroline Cashion has started all three games in goal, making 14 saves and posting a .700 save percentage.
• Casey Brown is in her second season as head coach of the Crusaders.
 
The Series with Holy Cross
• The Crusaders and Black Bears have met 15 total times since first squaring off in 1994, with Holy Cross holding an edge of 8-7 in the all-time series.
• The teams last played on Aug. 25, 2016, with Maine winning by a score of 3-0 in Orono.
• Sophomore Kaitlyn Ball had one goal and two assists in that game, while classmate Nicole Bailey and Theresa Gosch '17 each had one goal.
• Sophomore Annalena Kriebisch earned the shutout in net for the Black Bears in that game with seven saves.
• Maine holds the edge in all-time scoring, 24-21.
 
Common Opponents
• Maine and Holy Cross have three common opponents on their 2017 schedules in Northeastern, Hartford and Massachusetts.
• Both Maine and Holy Cross dropped home games to Northeastern, 3-0 and 2-0, respectively.
• The Black Bears have yet to play Hartford or Massachusetts, but the Crusaders are coming off of a 1-0 win over Hartford.
 
About Head Coach Scott Atherley
• Now in his 25th season as a head coach in the NCAA, Scott Atherley is entering his 19th season as the Maine women's soccer program's head coach.
• Atherley has led the Black Bears to five-straight America East postseason tournaments and to 13 of the last 14 overall.
• In 1993, Atherley became head coach of the UMaine men's team and took on head coaching duties of the women's team in 1999, coaching both squads that year.
• Atherley was a four-year letter-winner at UMaine between 1984 and 1987, serving as captain during his final season.
 
A Trio of "Firsts" at Brown
• Junior Mikayla Morin scored the first goal of her career at Brown, heading the ball home in the 77th minute.
• The Aug. 25 match at Brown marked the first time in the now six-game series that the winning team did not earn a shutout.
• Maine held Brown without a shot on frame in the first half, marking the first time in nine games (Sept. 21, 2016) that Brown was held without a shot on goal in a full half.
 
First Tie in a Long Time
• Maine's 0-0 tie with LIU Brooklyn in the Aug. 20 season-opener marked the first time that the Black Bears have ever had a tie on opening day.
• It was also the program's first tie since a 1-1 affair with rival New Hampshire on Oct. 29, 2015.
• The most ties that Maine has ever had in a season is seven in 2008.
 
Shutting Out the Blackbirds
• Maine's 0-0 affair on Aug. 20 marked the second consecutive shutout against the Blackbirds, as the Black Bears took last year's contest, 2-0.
• Annalena Kriebisch has been in goal for both of those shutouts, making four saves on Sunday for her fourth career shutout and five saves a year ago for her first career clean sheet.
 
International Appeal
• The Black Bears have four different countries represented on the team roster in the United States, Canada, Norway and Germany.
• Maine has three players each that hail from Maine and Connecticut, and one each from New York, Georgia, Florida and New Hampshire.
 • There are three Canadian provinces represented with four players coming from Ontario, three from Nova Scotia and one from Quebec.
• There is a three-payer European contingent, with two players hailing from Norway and one from Germany.
 
Oh Captain, My Captain
• Kendra Ridley will serve as the captain for the Black Bears this season, marking the third-straight year that the Ottawa, Ontario native will wear the armband.

Up Next
• Maine will play a neutral site matchup on Sunday, Sept. 3, as the Black Bears travel to Thornton Academy in Saco to take on the University of Massachusetts in a 7 p.m. tilt.
• The Black will then return home for two games, battling the Bryant Bulldogs on Thursday, Sept. 7 and the Marist Red Foxes on Sunday, Sept. 10.