ORONO, Maine – Exactly one year after last playing the University of Massachusetts Minutewomen, the UMaine soccer team will battle them once again. The Black Bears will make the in-state trek to Thornton Academy in Saco on Sunday night to take on UMass in a neutral site contest.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Maine Black Bears vs. Massachusetts Minutewomen
DATE: Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
SITE: Hill Stadium – Saco, Maine (artificial surface)
2017 RECORDS: Maine 1-2-1, Massachusetts 0-3-0
VIDEO: AmericaEast.tv
LIVE STATS: GoBlackBears.com
TWITTER: @BlackBearSoccer
 
About the Black Bears
• UMaine is coming off its first win of the season on Thursday night against Holy Cross and enters Sunday's contest with a record of 1-2-1.
• Sophomore Kayla Brace netted her first career goal in the 84th minute off of a cross from classmate Nicole Bailey to give the Black Bears the 1-0 non-conference victory.
• Sophomore Annalena Kriebisch made seven saves for her second shutout of the season and now leads the America East in that category.
• Brace leads the Black Bears with three points on one goal and one assist while junior Mikayla Morin has one goal and Bailey has one assist.
 
About Massachusetts
• The Minutewomen enter Sunday's match with an overall record of 0-3-0 and are coming off of a 3-1 loss to Vanderbilt on Aug. 27.
• Erin Doster scored in the very first minute for UMass but Vanderbilt scored three goals before the break to earn the win.
• UMass dropped its season-opener to Central Connecticut State (0-3) and then lost contests to Stony Brook (0-2) and Vanderbilt.
• The Minutewomen returned their leading goal-scorer from 2016 in Gabriela Kenyon.
• Ed Matz is in his ninth year on the UMass sideline.
 
The Series with Massachusetts
• Maine and UMass last met on Sept. 3, 2016, with the Minutewomen taking the game, 1-0, in Amherst.
• Since the squads first met on Aug. 31, 2007, UMass has gone 3-0-1 in the all-time series.
• In the four games played between Maine and UMass, only three goals total have been scored with the Minutewomen grabbing all three for a trio of 1-0 wins.
 
A Win Would…
• Give UMaine its second-straight win and first ever against the Minutewomen.
• Bump the Black Bears' overall record to 2-2-1.
• Give head coach Scott Atherley his 145th win at the helm of the UMaine women's team.
 
Common Opponents
• UMass and Maine share three regular season opponents in Stony Brook, Holy Cross and Brown but have yet to play the same team.
• UMass has only played Stony Brook thus far, dropping that game (2-0) in Amherst.
• Maine lost to Brown in overtime (2-1) but beat Holy Cross on Thursday night (1-0).
 
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.
 
Canadian Connection
• Sophomore Kayla Brace's game-winning score against Holy Cross on Aug. 31 was assisted by her classmate and fellow Canadian, Nicole Bailey.
• For Brace, who hails from Lewis Lake, Nova Scotia, it was her first career goal and point.
• For the Nepean, Ontario native, Bailey, it marked her first career assist.
 
Second Shutouts
• Sophomore Annalena Kriebisch has two shutouts so far this year to lead the America East conference and both of them came against teams she earned a clean sheet against in 2016.
• She had seven saves on Aug. 31 for her second shutout in as many tries against Holy Cross after making six saves in last year's contest against the Crusaders.
• Maine's 0-0 affair on Aug. 20 marked her second consecutive shutout against LIU Brooklyn as she made four saves then and five saves a year ago for her first career clean sheet.
• Kriebisch now has five career shutouts.
 
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.
 
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
• The Black Bears will return home for two games next week, battling the Bryant Bulldogs on Thursday, Sept. 7 and then the Marist Red Foxes on Sunday, Sept. 10.