ORONO, Maine – The University of Maine soccer team will begin at two-game home stand on Thursday afternoon, taking to the turf at 4 p.m. to battle the Bulldogs of Bryant.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Maine Black Bears vs. Bryant Bulldogs
DATE: Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017
TIME: 4:00 p.m.
SITE: Mahaney Diamond – Orono, Maine (artificial surface)
2017 RECORDS: Maine 1-3-1, Bryant 3-1-1
LIVE VIDEO: AmericaEast.tv (portal)
LIVE STATS: GoBlackBears.com
TWITTER: @BlackBearSoccer
 
About the Black Bears
• Freshman Olivia Bamford netted her first career goal in the first minute against UMass on Sunday night but the Minutewomen evened the score in the 82nd minute and scored just under two minutes into overtime to take the neutral site game, 2-1.
• Bamford's goal was the result of a cross from sophomore Nicole Bailey, who earned her second assist in as many games with the play.
• UMaine got its first win of the season on Aug. 31 against Holy Cross,
• Sophomore Kayla Brace netted her first career goal in the 84th minute off of a cross from classmate Nicole Bailey.
• Sophomore Annalena Kriebisch made seven saves for her second shutout of the season and is tied for the conference lead in clean sheets.  
• Brace leads the Black Bears with three points on one goal and one assist while Bailey leads the team in assists with two.
 
About Bryant
• The Bulldogs recorded a 1-0 win over Stony Brook on Sunday, with Remi Manna's 19th minute goal proving to be the game-winner.
• Rachel Brightman and Meghan Dalton combined for the shutout between the pipes, the third time this season they have done so.
• Brightman (2-0-0; 0.40 goals against average; .917 save percentage) has started five games for the Bulldogs while Dalton (1-1-1; 0.71 GAA; .833 sv%) has appeared in all five games as well.
• Alison Guilmette leads Bryant with four points on one goal and two assists while Manna has one goal and one assist for three points – and four other Bulldogs have recorded a goal.
• The Bulldogs - who are led by head coach Andy Biggs in his third season - were tabbed fifth in the Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.
 
The Series with Bryant
• The Black Bears hold an edge of 3-2-1 in the all-time series with the Bulldogs.
• Last year, UMaine traveled to Bryant and came away with a 2-0 win after goals from Kaitlyn Ball and Anetra Byfield and a four-save shutout performance from Annalena Kriebisch.
• The two squads first met on Sept. 13, 2008, battling to a 1-1 tie through two overtimes.
• UMaine holds an all-time scoring edge of 6-4.
 
A Win Would…
• Move UMaine's all-time record against Bryant to 4-2-1.
• Bump the Black Bears' overall record to 2-3-1
• Give head coach Scott Atherley his 145th win at the helm of the UMaine women's team.
 
Common Opponents
• Bryant and UMaine have five opponents in common with the Bulldogs battling four America East conference foes (UMass-Lowell, Stony Brook, Binghamton, Vermont) and also LIU Brooklyn.
 • Both teams have yet to play the same opponent.
 
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.
 
Finding the Net for the First Time
• All of UMaine's goals so far in 2017 have come off of the foot of a first-time goal scorer.
• Freshman Olivia Bamford netted the first of her career on Sept. 3 against Bryant with her first minute tally.
• Kayla Brace saved her first career goal for a game-winner, as the sophomore found the net in the 84th minute of UMaine's 1-0 win over Holy Cross on Aug. 31.
• Against Brown, junior Mikayla Morin was able to head home the ball in the second half for her very first tally.
 
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 tie for the America East conference lead.
• 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 Night 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
• UMaine will remain at Mahaney Diamond for a battle against the Marist Red Foxes on Sunday, Sept. 10.
• The Black Bears will then travel to Cornell on Sunday, Sept. 16 to battle the Big Red in the final non-conference contest of the season.

-UMaine-