PREVIEW: Women’s soccer hosts UAlbany in America East quarterfinal

Thursday, November 5

Orono, Maine

7:00 PM

University of Maine

UAlbany

Photo by: Seth Poplaski

11/2/2026 3:19:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at the New Balance Soccer Complex.

ORONO, Maine – The University of Maine women's soccer team will host UAlbany in the America East Championship quarterfinal round on Thursday, Nov. 5 at the New Balance Soccer Complex.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and the match will stream live on ESPN+.

Tickets are available online HERE or can be purchased on Thursday night at the entrance to the New Balance Soccer Complex.

The winner of the Maine-UAlbany quarterfinal will advance to the America East Championship semifinal round on Sunday, Nov. 8 at second-seeded Bryant.

Game 17 | Maine vs UAlbany
Thursday, Nov. 5 | 7 p.m. | ESPN+
Orono, Maine | New Balance Soccer Complex

ABOUT MAINE
• Maine finished the regular season at 7-5-4 overall and 4-2-2 in America East play to earn a home playoff game for the fifth consecutive season.
• The Black Bears closed the regular season on Sunday at UMBC, earning a 2-1 win to finish tied for second with 14 points (Bryant won the tiebreaker).
• Abbey Thornton and Emma Nicholson both scored for Maine at UMBC to give the team six different multi-goal scorers on the year.
• Isabella Meadows has a team-leading 16 points on seven goals and two assists while Thornton is second on the team with nine points off two goals and a team-leading and career-high five assists.
• Eight Black Bears have at least one goal on the year, with Luise Reinwald (3), Aja Turner (3) and Sandrine Brault (2) joining Meadows, Thornton and Nicholson with multiple goals.
• Elena Barenberg has made 50 saves for Maine while holding a .758 save percentage, 1.00 goals against average and posting four shutouts.

ABOUT UALBANY
• The Great Danes went 5-7-3 overall and 3-3-2 in America East play to earn the program's first championship appearance since 2022.
• UAlbany brings a four-game unbeaten streak into Thursday night's contest, last having lost on Oct. 4 at UMBC.
• The Great Danes picked up conference wins over UMass Lowell, Bryant and NJIT.
• Sydney Kofton leads UAlbany in points with eight on three goals and two assists … Kiara Levac and Oluchi Njoku both have three goals and one assist for seven points.
• Claudia Volino has started every game in goal, going 5-7-3 with a 1.97 goals against average, .698 save percentage and posting three shutouts.

SERIES HISTORY vs UALBANY
• Maine sits at 15-10-2 in the all-time series with UAlbany after picking up a 2-0 win in the America East conference opener back on Sept. 20 … Emma Nicholson and Isabella Meadows scored for Maine in that win while Elena Barenberg made five saves.
• Last year, the Black Bears earned a 1-0 road win behind a goal from Julie Lossius and the first career shutout from Barenberg.
• This marks the second all-time postseason meeting between these two teams … in 2014, No. 4 UAlbany defeated No. 5 Maine, 2-0, in the quarterfinal round.
• Luise Reinwald leads all active Black Bears in scoring against UAlbany with one goal and one assist … Nicholson and Meadows each have one goal while Britta Denny and Victoria Dungey each have one career assists against the Great Danes.
• The first-ever meeting in the series came in 2001, with the Black bears earning a 3-0 win … Maine went on to win the first nine meetings in the series while UAlbany held an eight-game winning streak from 2014-2021.

WEEKLY AWARDS ROUND UP
· Five Black Bears have earned America East weekly awards this season.
· Isabella Meadows has earned three Offensive Player of the Week honors while Aja Turner has earned one.
· Olivia Grisdale has earned two Defender of the Week honors and Meghan Bernetti has earned one.
· Goalkeeper Elena Barenberg has earned one Goalkeeper of the Week honor.

FAMILY TIES
• Sophomore Stella Jarvais is the second in her family to play soccer for head coach Scott Atherley … her mom Nikki played four seasons at Maine (1996-2000) and captained the squad as a senior … Stella's father, Kregg, was a member of the baseball team.
• Junior Olivia Grisdale is the second in her family to play soccer at Maine … older sister Rebecca played three seasons at Maine, including two with Olivia, and was a captain on the 2025 squad.
• Freshman Ashley Kraemer is the third member of her family to play at Maine, joining older sisters Kayla (2020-24) and Abby (2021-24) … they have a fourth sister, Caitlin, who plays ice hockey at Minnesota Duluth.
• Teagan Atherley is the daughter of head coach Scott Atherley, who was a four-year letterwinner on the men's soccer team at Maine (1984-88).

UP NEXT
• The winner of the Maine-UAlbany quarterfinal will advance to the America East Championship semifinal round on Sunday, Nov. 8 at Bryant.