UB Women's Soccer Game Recap

Colley and Kenny help UB beat AIC in home opener.
By: Chris Hogan

Friday night's came proved that the 2011 UB Women's Soccer Team could remain a solid bunch despite loosing three valuable seniors with their 2-1 win over American International College. The goal scoring of the game came from Seniors Julia Colley, who made the transition this year from goalkeeper to midfielder and forward Kasey Kenny, who only appeared in seven games last season after suffering a torn ACL.  Sophomore goalie Julie Hansson saved eight shots for the Purple Knights. Bonnie Boornazian scored the only goal for the Yellow Jackets with the assist coming from Caroline Boyce.

UB Women's Soccer Head Coach Magnus Nilerud:

On the win: "I am very pleased [with the win] and they [the women soccer players] played a lot better than I thought. They were much calmer under pressure and I thought they were able to handle themselves."

On Julia Colley's game tonight: "She had a fantastic game and she is so strong. She is very technical [when playing the game], and posted as a threat tonight when she went up front. It was a great finish obviously [when she scored the goal]."

On having Kasey Kenny back from an injury last season: " [She was] huge. The way she was able to move in and out of the box tonight was critical "

What to expect from the bench this season: "The bench is going to be very important when you get further in the season as you go along. That is one of the areas we struggled in the past but every kid we put in there is not a bad option [for us]. Everyone is good enough to play and they will be important as we go further in the season."

On U-Mass Lowell for Sunday's game: "They are a different team [than AIC] and more physical. Its going to be a much more difficult game."

Junior forward/midfielder Becky Wallis

On tonight's win: "I think we did pretty good and we had to work more as a team because we don't have the players we once did. We worked really well together tonight despite it being the first time playing together this season."

On Julia Colley's game: "She did good and stepped up because we were lacking the height [advantage] in forwards.

On expectations this season: "We are trying to get everyone on the same page and experience and go far by winning the ECC's. [We want to] get into the NCAA Tournament and win [it all]."

On her own expectations: "I don't want to mess up for my team especially since I am playing a new position. I hope me and Gabby [Trombley] and the rest of D keep it away from goalie."

Senior midfielder Julia Colley

On the win tonight: "I think we surprised ourselves a lot more and showed how well we can play. We have to keep the standards up to that. Its fun playing up there [as a midfielder and as a new position]. The whole team has really good work ethic by our quickness and by playing very well together despite only practicing for a few weeks."

On the goal scoring and leadership this season by the team: "I think as each game goes on we are going to get to know each other a lot better by how we run and work together. There is going to be more goals that will come out of it since we managed to get a few scrappy ones today."

One the new players this season. "Magnus is expecting a lot from them especially since he is starting them in such [important positions].  [Freshman midfielder] Jill [Hwang] is really good in the back and helps the whole defensive line. They bring a lot of energy."

Looking Ahead: On sunday, the Purple Knights will take on U-Mass Lowell from the Northeast-10 Conference. UB last hosted the Riverhawks in Sept. 2009 when the game ended in 0-0 tie and beat them 2-1 in OT last year in Lowell, MA. The game will start on Sunday at 6 p.m. at Knights Field and admission is free to the game.