Both the Massachusetts women’s soccer and football teams will look to expand their win-streaks to three this weekend as they travel to play Michigan. The Minutewomen will see a familiar face as well as they take on their ex-coach from 2009, Angela Napoli, in a brand new soccer facility that the Wolverines are unveiling before the game.
The Minutewomen are 3-2-0 overall, with their most recent victory coming against Fairfield in a 4-0 shutout. This game marks the second of a four-game road trip for UMass, which also includes games against Oakland and Brown.
The Maroon and White are 1-2 all-time against Michigan, with their last meeting coming on Sept. 13, 2002. The Wolverines won that game, 3-0.
Michigan is currently 3-1-2 with wins over Pepperdine, Detroit and Oakland. The UMass defense will have its eyes open for the offensive trio of Nkem Ezurike, Tori McCombs and Amanda Bowery.
Ezurike leads the Wolverines with six points and three goals, while McCombs has four points and two goals.
The offense will be focused on getting the ball past Michigan goalkeeper Haley Kopmeyer. She boasts a 0.93 goals-against average and a .700 save percentage. Playing all 580 minutes between the pipes this season, Kopmeyer already has two shutouts.
“The key to getting a win for us is to not fall into all the hype of playing such a large program in a beautiful facility,” Matz said. “It is important we do not go out there and try to win but instead just play our game, bring a lot of energy and the results should come.”
UMass is coming off an impressive offensive performance against Fairfield last Sunday, rolling to a 4-0 shutout with a pair of goals in each half, and a seven-save shutout performance by sophomore goalkeeper Emily Cota.
The first half goals came via senior Ashley Hamel redirecting the pass of junior Meghan Collins into the net by the far post. Shortly after, Deanna Colorassi scored on a dribbler on the far left post from just inside the 18-yard-box.
A key for the Minutewomen has been how well they have distributed the ball this season. Six players have scored goals, and at least eight players have a point. The last time UMass won two games in the same season by four or more goals was in 2001.
Oakland is also on the weekend schedule for the Maroon and White as it will face their first ever opponent from the Summit League. UMass has never faced the Grizzlies (1-4-1) before, with their lone winning coming against Rochester State.
Oakland is led by Amy Trandell with three goals and Kara Weber who has two goals and two assists.
“We are going to have to stay focused after a big game against Michigan and make sure we don’t have a let-down game,” Matz said. “As long as we continue to play the way we’ve been I have a good feeling about this weekend.”
Shannon Coley will look to cool off the red-hot Minutewomen offense. She sports a 1.35 goals-against average and a .692 save percentage.
Michael Counos can be reached at [email protected].
