Women’s Soccer Opens Home Slate with Sacred Heart, Villanova

Friday, August 31

Providence, RI

7:00 PM

Brown University

Sacred Heart

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Women’s Soccer Opens Home Slate with Sacred Heart, Villanova

8/29/2018 4:47:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Watch vs. Sacred Heart (ESPN+)Watch vs. Villanova (ESPN+)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown University women's soccer plays its first home games of the 2018 season at Stevenson-Pincince Field when the Bears host Sacred Heart on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and Villanova on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.

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Vs. Sacred Heart: Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Tickets
Vs. Villanova: Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Tickets
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THE IVY LEAGUE ON ESPN
Video of all home contests and all Ivy League games, home and away, will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Fans can subscribe and view games by purchasing a monthly package for $4.99 or a yearly package for $49.99.

GOLDEN STATE TRIP
Making its third-ever trip to the state of California in program history, Brown opened the season with a pair of 1-0 setbacks at Pepperdine (Aug. 24) and at UC Santa Barbara (Aug. 26). Senior goalkeeper Christine Etzel (Madison, Conn.) turned aside 18 shots between the two games, making eight saves at Pepperdine and 10 saves at UC Santa Barbara.

ETZEL BACK IN GOAL
Senior goalkeeper Christine Etzel (Madison, Conn.) totaled 18 saves over Brown's opening weekend, stopping eight shots at Pepperdine (Aug. 24) and 10 shots at UC Santa Barbara (Aug. 26) – her second career game with double-figure saves. She ranks third on Brown's career shutouts list with 19 shutouts, fourth on Brown's career wins list with 27 wins, and ninth on Brown's career saves list with 227 saves. Etzel won the 2016 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year award and is a three-time All-Ivy selection.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Since renaming its home pitch Stevenson-Pincince Field prior to the final home game of the 2015 season, Brown has posted an 11-3-3 record at home. The Bears went 6-2-0 at home last season and posted a 4-1-3 mark at home during the 2016 campaign.

LAST FALL
In 2017, Brown registered an 11-5-0 overall record, giving the Bears their most wins since going 13-4-0 in 2000. Brown also set a single-season program record with four overtime victories. The Bears tallied six All-Ivy selections, including First Team All-Ivy honoree Abby Carchio '20 (Lakeville, Mass.).

RETURNING ALL-IVY
Alongside senior goalkeeper Christine Etzel (Madison, Conn.), the Bears bring back four more student-athletes who earned All-Ivy honors last fall, including senior forward/midfielder Celia Story (Bainbridge Island, Wash.), junior midfielder Abby Carchio (Lakeville, Mass.), sophomore back Sydney Cummings (Millstone Township, N.J.), and sophomore forward Star White (Norfolk, Va.).

Story has earned All-Ivy honors in back-to-back years and last season ranked ninth in the Ivy League in points (15) and fifth in assists (five). Carchio earned First Team All-Ivy and Second Team NEWISA All-New England in 2017. Cummings and White both garnered Second Team All-Ivy a year ago with Cummings playing all 1,475 minutes on the season and White ranking second in the Ancient Eight in assists (six) and eighth in points (16).

WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
Sophomore back Sydney Cummings (Millstone Township, N.J.) and sophomore goalkeeper Maria Guerrero (San Juan, Puerto Rico) competed in World Cup qualifiers in May 2018, taking part in the Caribbean Zone's regional qualification tournament.

Representing Guyana, Cummings earned her first three career international caps and scored her first career international goal in a 6-1 win over Suriname. Representing Puerto Rico, Guerrero garnered her first three career caps at the senior level. She previously served as a reserve goalkeeper for the senior team and competed for Puerto Rico at the U20 and U17 levels. Both Guyana and Puerto finished second in their respective groups, falling one spot shy of advancing to the qualification tournament's final round.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Sacred Heart carries an 0-3-0 record into the weekend after falling to Iona (3-2), Temple (2-0), and St. John's (3-0). Maranda Gibbons and Christina Palanza have each scored one goal for the Pioneers. Nicole Sambuco has played all 270 minutes in goal, posting a 2.67 GAA and .724 save percentage. Last season, SHU went 7-11 overall and 4-4 in NEC play.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Villanova brings a 3-1-0 mark into the weekend, coming off victories over James Madison (3-2) and Lehigh (4-0) last weekend. Chloe O'Neill paces the Wildcats with seven points on two goals and three assists while Niki Molina has added four points. In goal, Hensley Hancuff has started all four games, registering a 0.99 GAA and .733 save percentage.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Brown and Sacred Heart have met 15 times with the Bears holding a 9-3-3 edge in the all-time series. The Bears pulled out a 2-1 win over the Pioneers last season.

The Bears have played Villanova three times, gaining a 2-1-0 edge in the series. Brown beat the Wildcats in 1976 (5-0) and 1977 (2-1) while Villanova took a 3-1 decision in 1999.

THE LAST THREE SEASONS
The Bears have finished in the top half of the Ivy League standings for three straight years for the first time since 1992-94. In 2015, Brown went 7-7-2 overall (3-3-1 Ivy) to place third, in 2016 the team finished 9-2-5 overall (4-1-2 Ivy) for second place, and in 2017 the Bears went 11-5-0 (4-3-0) for fourth place.

THE CAPTAINS
Senior goalkeeper Christine Etzel (Madison, Conn.) and senior forward/midfielder Celia Story (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) will serve Brown as captains for the 2018 season. Etzel returns for her second season as a captain for the Bears.

COLLEGIATE DEBUTS
Nine Brown freshmen made their collegiate debuts last weekend, including midfielder Sara Bermudez (South San Francisco, Calif.), back Charlotte DeVaughn (Minneapolis, Minn.), back Maesyn G'Bye (Ladera Ranch, Calif.), back Lauren Hinton (Middletown, Conn.), midfielder/forward Zoe Maxwell (Irvington, N.Y.), forward Claire Myers (Fairport, N.Y.), forward Rebecca Rosen (Port Washington, N.Y.), back Bridget Stokdyk (Pacific Palisades, Calif.), and midfielder Malina Yago (Culver City, Calif.).

YEAR THREE
Head coach Kia McNeill enters her third season as the head women's soccer coach at Brown University in 2018-19, leading the Bears to their highest finish in the league standings since 1994 in her inaugural season in 2016 and guiding the Bears to their most wins since 2000 in her second season in 2017. She returns her top two assistants from the last two seasons in Matt Mones and Raleigh DeRose, while adding Andre Reis as the team's volunteer goalkeeper coach.

COMING SOON
After meeting Villanova on Sunday, Brown plays at crosstown rival Providence College on Thursday, Sept. 6 at 7:00 p.m. before hosting Holy Cross on Sunday, Sept. 9 at 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+).

TICKETS!
Tickets for all Brown women's soccer games can be purchased online, by calling the Brown Athletics Ticket Office at (401) 863-2773, or by walking up to the box office located in the Pizzitola Sports Center, open Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.