Women's Soccer Hosts NJIT for Crucial Match on Thursday Evening; Retrievers Seeking First Conference Playoff Berth In a Decade

The Retrievers can qualify for their first America East Tournament berth since 2015 on Thursday evening. UMBC must defeat NJIT and will need either Maine (vs. UNH) or Bryant (at UMass Lowell) to lose or tie. A berth would give UMBC the #5 or #6 seed and a road contest this Sunday in the first round.
UMBC is coming off a 1-1 tie to New Hampshire
Junior forward Peyton Schenning scored a goal in the 63rd minute to even the score after the Dawgs trailed for only 12 minutes
The Retrievers have reached six wins and two conference victories for the first time since 2016.
UMBC has not won seven contests in a season since 2014, when it finished 12-4-3 and reached the America East Semifinals.
The Retrievers are 5-3 at Retriever Soccer Park this season, versus 1-4-4 on the road.
Payton Schenning is first in the conference in shots, averaging 3.33 a game, and 1.6 shots on goal, landing her 3rd in the conference. She is also 9th in the conference in goals with four assists.
Redshirt freshman Zoe Brossman is tied for 12th in the conference with three goals and is second on the team with three assists.
Junior forward Grace Dunbar is 10th in the conference with two game-winning goals.
Graduate student goalie Kalli Williams is 3rd in the conference with a 1.111 goals against average and 4.00 saves per game. She is also second in the conference with a .819 save percentage. Williams earned her second #AEWSOC Defensive Player of the Week award this past Monday.

About NJIT

The Highlanders are 1-2-4 on the road.
NJIT secured a 2-1 win against Maine at home last Saturday with goals by Riley Jones, her first of the season, and Briana Andreoli, her ninth of the season
Mojisola Ayodele is 3rd in the conference for saves with a .806 save percentage and 4th for saves per game with 3.57 a game
Briana Andreoli is 10th in the conference with 1.94 shots per game, while being first in the conference with nine goals, and 2nd in the conference for shots on goal with 1.53 per game
Kelsey Ramos is 12th in the conference in game-winning goals with two.
Emily Jozak is 3rd in the conference in assists with .235 per game
The Highlanders are 3-1-1 when coming off a win this season

Inside The Series

UMBC is 2-3-2 all-time against NJIT. The Retrievers are 0-2-1 in Baltimore.
The Dawgs' last win in the series was a 1-0 triumph on 10/12/22.
· The Highlanders beat the Retrievers 2-1 in Newark, NJ, last year, with Caroline Caputo scoring in the 34th minute and a goal by Daniella Vito in the 87th minute to secure the deal. UMBC's lone goal was scored by Meghan McKye.

Players Mentioned