BALTIMORE – The UMBC women's soccer squad (4-2-2, 1-0-0) plays its first home America East Conference contest of the 2021 campaign when Hartford (6-1-1, 1-0-0) visits Retriever Soccer Park on Sunday afternoon. The contest will get underway at 2:00 p.m. and will air on the America East digital network.

The Retrievers opened their 18th season of America East Conference play with a 1-0 victory over Maine at in windy conditions at Mahaney Diamond last Sunday. Sophomore midfielder Grace Harvey (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) scored the game's lone goal in the 34' and junior goalkeeper Morgan McGruder (Overland Park, Kan.) made nine saves to post her first career shutout.

UMBC has recorded back-to-back shutouts and has held the opposition off the board in three of the last four games.

Honored

• The America East Conference selected UMBC freshman fullback (Denver, Colo./Thomas Jefferson) as its Women's Soccer Defensive Player and co-Rookie of the Week for games ending Sept. 19, 2021.
• Reid follows UMBC goalkeeper Abbey Cowles (Colts Neck, N.J.), who won the DPOW award the previous week. Reid has started at central fullback in all eight UMBC games this season and UMBC is currently second in the league in goals against average at 0.88.
• Junior striker Julianna Rafaniello (Old Bridge, N.J.) is UMBC's other honoree this season, earning Offensive Player of the Week accolades after her five-point effort in the opening 3-1 win over Robert Morris.

UMBC Notes 

• Rafaniello continues to lead the squad with nine points (4g, 1a). She stands tied for fourth in the conference in goal scoring and is one of three league players to tally a three or more game-winning goals.
• Junior midfielder Caroline Koutsos (Boyds, Md./Good Counsel) is ninth in the conference in goals per game (3, 0.375 per game).
• The 4-2-2 start is the Retrievers' best since 2014 when they opened the campaign at 6-2-0. 

A Glance at the Hawks:

• Hartford comes into this game with a 6-1-1 record and won their America East opener, 1-0 over New Hampshire last Sunday.
• The Hawks are undefeated in their past five games, and they are currently on a two-game winning streak.
• Hartford's leading goal scorer is sophomore forward Imani Jenkins, who has six goals on the season. Jenkins won the America East Rookie of the Week award in week 3.
• Sophomore forward Chloe Layne is second on the team with four goals.
• Graduate student goalkeeper Maia Perez has been great in goal for Hartford, only allowing three goals on the season.
• Hartford's head coach John Natale is in his 18th season, with his record at Hartford being 147-110-45. He is a five-time America East Coach of the Year, and has earned six America East championships.

Series History:

• UMBC trails Hartford in the all-time season series, posting a record of 5-13-1 versus the Hawks.
• Hartford is undefeated in the last five games versus UMBC, including winning the last four games in a row. The Retrievers' last win versus Hartford occurred in 2014 (1-0) and the last win at Retriever Soccer Park transpired a year earlier (2-1).
• Hartford won the last match at UMBC, 2-1, in double overtime on October 27, 2019.

Up Next:

• UMBC heads to New York to face Binghamton on Thursday, Sept. 30. Match time is set for 6:00 p.m.