UB Women's Soccer Preview vs Stonehill College

UB Women's Soccer Preview vs Stonehill College
By: Chris Hogan

Wednesday's match between Bridgeport and Stonehill will mark two teams who are off to strong starts this season. The Purple Knights enter with a 7-0-0 record and are currently ranked fifth in the nation, while the Skyhawks are 7-1-1 and one win shy of their total win mark from all of last year.

UB has shutout their last three opponents by outscoring them 5-0 and Stonehill has held its last five opponents scoreless. Last year, the Skyhawks took the only match by the score of 2-1 between the two schools in Easton, MA. In 2009, the Purple Knights defeated Stonehill 3-2 in overtime at Knights Field on former women's soccer player Emma Woolley's hatrick performance.

The Skyhawks feature balance scoring up and down the lineup as they are led by senior forwards Kelsey Mahoney and Alexandra Murphy,who are the top two scorers on the team with three and four goals respectively. Sophomore goalkeeper Amy Wheaton hasn't allowed a goal all season and has a 1.000 save percentage.

UB goalkeeper Julia Hansson has recorded all five of the team's shutouts this year and has a league best .957 save percentage. Senior forward Kasey Kenny leads the ECC with 15 points and goals with six. The Purple Knights have only allowed two goals so far while recording the lowest goals against average in the league with 0.29 average.

"Its going to be a tough game and they are another N-10 [Northeast-10] team that will battle for 90 minutes," women's soccer head coach Magnus Nilerud said. "If we win this one, we will be looking very nicely [in the standings]."

Gametime is set for 6 p.m. at Knights Field. UB will also host N.Y.I.T. next Saturday during Purple Knight Family Weekend at 3 p.m. Admission is free to the games.