NEWARK, Del. – The University of Delaware women's soccer team will begin
Colonial Athletic Association action this weekend with a pair of home
matches on Friday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. against Towson University and
Sunday, Sept. 23 vs. George Mason at 1 p.m. at Delaware Mini Stadium.
Delaware (3-4) enters conference play after defeating reigning Northeast
Conference champion, Long Island University-Brooklyn on Sunday. Towson
(0-7-1) travels the 59 miles north on I-95 to play the Blue Hens riding
a six-game losing skid while George Mason (4-5) comes to Newark with a
2-2 record in September.
"The team is very excited to start conference play," said Delaware head
coach Scott Grzenda. "We've been playing some excellent soccer and now
is the time to put it all together. When conference play begins you have
to throw out the records, it's almost like starting the season over again."
Delaware, which advanced to the CAA Tournament semifinals a year ago,
will be looking for its first home field victory in three tries this
weekend. Anna Lenczyk leads the UD offense with two goals this season
while reigning CAA Rookie of the Week Emily Market, Ali Miller, Dianna
Marinaro, and Gina DiTaranto have each scored a goal. Jess Levy and Jess
Figueroa have shared duties in the net.
The Blue Hens have played Towson 20 times since 1990 and posted a 13-6-1
record and have posted a 4-7-1 mark against George Mason since 2001.
Delaware has a two-game winning streak against the Tigers and a one-game
losing skid to the Patriots.
"Despite their record, Towson will come in here ready to battle Friday
night," Grzenda remarked. "We need to be up to the task from the start
of the match for us to take care of business."
In his sixth season as head coach of Towson, Greg Payter leads a squad
that returns 17 letterwinners and eight starters from a club that went
9-10 a year ago.
The Tigers have their three highest point leaders back from last season
in junior forward Emily Banes, sophomore Sophia Reed and senior forward
Cheyenne Skidmore. A third team All-CAA selection last season, Skidmore
leads Towson with three goals and eight shots on goal this year.
"Mason is a very talented team and all of our games over the years have
been are very competitive," Grzenda said. "Our team is very excited to
play the Patriots."
Led by head coach Diane Drake, now in her 14th season at George Mason,
the Patriots return 13 letterwinners and eight starters from a team that
went 8-6-6 last year. GMU travels to Delaware with a 1-4 road record
this season.
The Patriots return second team All-CAA selection, senior forward Tania
Kallenberger, and third team All-CAA recipient, senior midfielder Mary
Kate Lowry. Kallenberger leads George Mason with 15 points (six goals
and three assists) and Lowry has one goal this season.
Following this weekend, Delaware will travel south for CAA action next
week with a trip to Georgia State on Friday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. and to
UNCW on Sunday, Sept. 30 at 1 p.m.
