Women’s Soccer @ Drexel Preview

Rachel McKee

You can’t take credit away from the women’s soccer team for opening their season with a because Delaware State just honestly wasn’t a great team because all they could do was beat the opposition at hand. But it will be harder to get a win on the road against Drexel, who is playing their season opener, in their second game.

This is going to be an interesting game. Drexel did only win four games last season, which would at first glance means UMBC had an amazing chance to get a 2-0 start. But Drexel does return every single player who scored a goal for them a season ago. While that is only 10 players who totaled just 20 goals, it means they do have players who know how to score, and what it’s like to score.

Jenna Lindsay is clearly going to be the go-to-scorer for Drexel as she was their top scorer with five goals and 11 points. The team’s second leading goal scorer, Elizabeth Matta (3 goals) is also a solid scoring option who can come off the bench and make a difference.

The Retrievers will also be going up against a good goalie, Nicole Sinclair, who saves over 72% of the shots she was faced with a season ago.

UMBC beat Delaware State by working the ball on the outside and getting it in to their scorers like Sandra Vacarino and LeAnne Edgar. You have to go with what works and likely be doing the same thing again.

If UMBC cam one again work the ball down the field with their wings and make good crosses, it very well may lead to a 2-0 start. But it won’t be easy to do. Drexel is a very young team, but at the same time they are experience as they return 12 players who started at least one game last season. They also return nine of their primary starters from last season.

Probable Starters:

UMBC (1-0):
F- Brooke Piper (0 goals, 0 assists, 0 sog)
F- Rachel McKee (0 goals, 0 assists, 0 sog)
M- Jessy Brown (0 goals, 1 assist, 0 sog)
M- Sandra Vacarino (1 goal, 1 assist, 1 sog)
M- LeAnne Edgar (1 goal, 0 assists, 2 sog)
M- Morgan Andrews (0 goals, 0 assists, 0 sog)
B- Aly Gazarek (0 goals, 0 assists, 1 sog)
B- Christine Sadowski (1 goal, 0 assists, 2 sog)
B- Katie Gitlin (0 goals, 0 assists, 1 sog)
B- Kelsi Morris (0 goals, 1 assist, 0 sog)
GK- Mo Van Vlerah (3 saves, 1 GA, 75% saves)

Key Reserves:
F- Amy Savage (0 goals, 1 assist, 0 sog)
M- Nicole Clark (0 goals, 1 assist, 0 sog)
M- Sarah Kopytko (0 goals, 0 assists, 0 sog)
M- Sarah Purdum (0 goals, 0 assists, 0 sog)
M- Shannon McGuinness (1 goal, 0 assists, 1 sog)