Women's Soccer | September 30, 2018

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle University women's soccer team (6-3-1, 1-2-0 A-10) return home to Philadelphia to take on Massachusetts (8-2-0, 3-0-0 A-10) Sunday afternoon. The game is slated for a 1 p.m. start at McCarthy Stadium.
 
SCOUTING LA SALLE:
Game-Winning Expertise
Of the Explorers six wins, redshirt-senior Madison Bower has five of the team's game-winning goals. Entering Tuesday, Bower sat tied for second in the nation for game-winning goals with Bri Folds of Auburn and Madeline Feist of UC Riverside – just one goal behind Raimee Sherle of Boise St.
 
National Attention
In the most recent United Soccer Coaches Regional Rankings, the Explorers slid to sixth in the East Region Poll. La Salle has been ranked in the region all six weeks.
 
Welcome, Molly!
Sophomore Molly O'Brien transferred to La Salle this season from Loyola (Md.) and has certainly made her presence felt. The Media, Pa. native has played in all 10 games this season, making eight starts. O'Brien currently sits second on the team in scoring with nine points on three goals and three assists. All of her scoring has come in the last four games, including two games with a career high three points.
 
New Goalie, No Problem
In her first season as the starting keeper, sophomore Claudia Jenkins has been nearly perfect. Starting all 10 games on the season, she posts four shutouts with 47 saves, a goals against average of 0.94, and a save percentage of .825. Jenkins sits in the top six in the A-10 in all of those categories, including second in save percentage.
 
Bower Power
To no surprise, Madison Bower is one of the top players in the A-10. Currently, she ranks tied for third in goals (6), sixth in points (13), and leads game-winning goals by two.
 
LAST TIME OUT: L, 2-3 OT at Duquesne

• The Explorers found the back of the net first as O'Brien nailed a one timer off of passes from Bower and sophomore Amirah Louketis.
• During the second half, redshirt-senior Clarissa Kirsch-Downs took a feed from O'Brien that made its way past the keeper to put the Explorers up, 2-0.
• The Dukes responded with two unanswered goals to send the game to overtime.
• Sixteen seconds into overtime, the Dukes scored the game winner.

SCOUTING MASSACHUSETTS:

• The Minutewomen are on a hot streak, winning their last seven games to put their record at 8-2-0 on the season, including an impressive 3-0 start in conference play under first year head coach Jason Dowiak.
• UMass impressively has 19 different players that have registered a point this season, including four in double figures. Just three players that have seen game action haven't scored a point.
• Rebecca Frisk and Lauren Bonavita pace the team with 15 points each. Both have scored six goals and three assists on the year.
• In goal, Peyton Ryan has been dominant for the Minutewomen, allowing just four goals against in 10 games for a goals against average of 0.43. Ryan has four shutouts on her own and two combined shutouts. She is currently ranked first in the conference and 18^th in the nation in goals against average, while also sitting atop the A-10 in save percentage. Her save percentage is good enough for 25^th in the country.
• As a team, the Minutewomen rank fifth in the nation in points per game (9.2), 13^th in save percentage (.882), and fourth in total points (92).