PREVIEW: Women's soccer set to battle Bryant in America East semifinal

Sunday, November 8

Smithfield, R.I.

4:30 PM

University of Maine

Bryant

Aja Turner dribbles the ball up the field.

Photo by: Seth Poplaski

11/6/2026 12:06:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Watch (ESPN+)Live Stats

Maine and Bryant will meet Sunday afternoon in Rhode Island.

ORONO, Maine – The University of Maine women's soccer team will take on second-seeded Bryant in the America East Championship semifinal round on Sunday, Nov. 8 at Beirne Stadium.

Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. and the match will stream live on ESPN+.

The third-seeded Black Bears earned a fifth straight semifinal bid by defeating UAlbany, 2-0, on Thursday night in Orono. The winner of the Maine-Bryant semifinal will advance to the America East Championship game next weekend to face either Binghamton or UMBC. Bryant and Maine finished tied for second in the regular season standings but the Bulldogs earned the No. 2 seed by way of defeating the Black Bears, 1-0, in the regular season matchup on Oct. 22.

Game 18 | Maine at Bryant
Sunday, Nov. 8 | 4:30 p.m. | ESPN+
Smithfield, R.I. | Beirne Stadium

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 are now 8-5-4 overall.
• The Black Bears hosted UAlbany in the quarterfinal round on Thursday night, earning a 2-0 win … Isabella Meadows scored early and then Sandrine Brault added an insurance goal late while Elena Barenberg made five saves for the shutout.
• Meadows has a team-leading 18 points on eight goals and two assists while Brault is second with 10 points on three goals and four assists.
• Abbey Thornton is third 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 six Black Bears recording multiple goals, including Meadows, Brault, Aja Turner and Luise Reinwald with at least three each.
• Barenberg has made 55 saves for Maine while holding a .775 save percentage, 0.94 goals against average and posting five shutouts.
• This year's Maine and Binghamton squads are both the first America East program(s) to advance to five consecutive semifinal games since Hartford from 2012-2016.

ABOUT BRYANT
• Bryant enters Sunday's class at 6-6-4 overall and riding a three-game unbeaten streak … the Bulldogs last play on Nov. 1, earning a big 5-0 road win in the regular season finale at UMass Lowell.
• The Bulldogs went 4-2-2 in America East play to earn the second seed in the conference tournament.
• Shannon Mejia was named the America East Goalkeeper of the Year … Mejia along with forward Samantha Zaslaw earned spots on the All-America East First Team while defenders Colleen Ardolino and Whitney Vaillant were named to the second team.
• Zaslaw has a team-leading 16 points on seven goals and two assists.
• Mejia has played nearly every minute in goal, going 6-6-4 with a .835 save percentage and 0.88 goals against average while posting eight shutouts.

SERIES HISTORY vs BRYANT
• Maine holds a record of 10-4-2 in the all-time series with Bryant … these two teams met less than three weeks ago, with Bryant snapping Maine's eight-game unbeaten streak in the series with a 1-0 win in Smithfield.
• Last season, the Black Bears and Bulldogs met in the first-ever game at the New Balance Soccer Complex and battled to a 1-1 tie … Hilary Washington scored her first career goal in the third minute.
• The first-ever meeting between the two teams came in 2008 in Rhode Island and ended in a 1-1 tie.
• These two teams have never met in the America East playoffs.

AMERICA EAST ACCOLADES
· Luise Reinwald was named the America East Midfielder of the Year, becoming just the second Black Bear in program history to earn the award and first since Marie-Andre Canuel in 2005.
· Reinwald, Abbey Thornton, Olivia Grisdale and Isabella Meadows were named to the America East All-Conference First Team, marking Maine's most on the first-team squad since 2005.
· Reinwald earned her second All-Conference selection, following a second-team honor in 2025 (and an All-Rookie nod in 2023).
· Elena Barenberg, Reinwald and Thornton were named to the America East All-Academic Team to give Maine a conference-leading 41 all-time academic selections.

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).

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

UP NEXT
• The winner of the Maine-Bryant semifinal will advance to the America East Championship game next weekend.