The Loyola University Maryland women’s soccer team plays its final road matches of the regular season as the Greyhounds travel to take on Fairfield on Friday night at 7 p.m. and Iona Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m.
The Greyhounds split a pair of home contests last weekend, defeating Siena ,2-1, and dropping an overtime contest to Marist, 1-0.
Loyola won its first road contest of the season on its last road trip, defeating Niagara, 3-2, in Niagara University, N.Y.
Loyola stands fourth in the MAAC standings entering play this weekend with 9 points. The top-four teams qualify for the MAAC Championship to be hosted by Loyola Nov. 4-6.
Junior forward Nichole Schiro enters the weekend tied for first in the MAAC in goals with five and ranked second in points with 12. She has 31 career goals, three away from setting the all-time program record in Loyola history.
Scouting the Stags
The Stags enter the weekend 4-6-4 overall and 2-2-1 in the MAAC.
Fairfield was picked to finish third in the MAAC and boast two Preseason All-MAAC selections in goalkeeper Kelly Boudreau and defender Carly Beyar.
Behind Boudreau, the Stags have proven to be the most difficult team in the MAAC to score against in conference play, surrendering just three goals in five games for a league-best, 0.57 goals against average.
Boudreau leads the league with a 0.58 GAA and has recorded two shutouts.
Scouting the Gaels
The Gaels enter the weekend 4-9-2 overal and 3-2-0 in the MAAC.
Iona was picked to finish ninth in the MAAC in the Preseason Coaches Poll.
The squad lost its first conference game to Marist, 4-1, but since has won three of four and has only allowed more than one goal once in a game.
Iona has a pair of overtime victories, beating Siena, 2-1, and Manhattan, 2-1.
The Gaels are playing their first homes games since Oct. 2 when they host Rider and Loyola this weekend. Iona is 2-4-1 at home this season.
Series with Fairfield
This will be the 31st meeting between the Greyhounds and Stags, with Loyola holding a 15-8-7 advantage in the all-time series.
The Greyhounds are 3-0-1 in the last four games in Fairfield and have won the last two matchups overall with the Stags.
Loyola is unbeaten in its last nine regular-season meetings, notching a 7-0-2 record. The Stags last beat the Greyhounds in the semifinals of the MAAC Championship on Nov. 9, 2008. Fairfield’s last regular-season victory over Loyola was on Oct. 19, 2001.
Series with Iona
Loyola is 19-1-2 all-time against Iona.
The only win in the series for the Gaels came in the first-ever meeting between the two programs on Oct. 18, 1992, when Iona won, 3-2 in Baltimore.
Loyola has won 19 straight over the Gaels and is unbeaten in the last 21 meetings with the two programs.
The Greyhounds have outscored the Gaels 12-0 in the last three meetings. Iona last scored against Loyola on Nov. 4, 2007.
Return of the MAAC
Loyola owns a 132-16-14 record all-time against MAAC opponents.
The Greyhounds have the most MAAC Championship titles (9) and most MAAC Tournament appearances (16) of any team in the conference.
Leading the Way
Junior forward Nichole Schiro has notched points in four of Loyola’s first five MAAC contests.
Schiro scored goals in the first three MAAC matches and had two assists in Loyola’s 2-1 win over Siena.
Schiro notched her sixth and seventh career multi-goal games, scoring twice (including the game-winner) against Rider, and scoring two more times in a loss to Canisius.
The Okemos, Mich., native is tied for the league lead with five goals and ranks second with 12 points.
Climbing the Charts
Nichole Schiro enters the weekend with 31 goals and 73 points for her career.
She became just the third player in Loyola history to eclipse the 30-goal mark and is currently tied for second on the Loyola career list, just two behind Ali Andrzejewski for the program record.
The 73 points ranks third on the all-time career chart, 16 points behind program leader Carolyn Kennington.
Schiro scored 15 goals in 2010, which tied for second on the Greyhounds’ single-season chart with Ali Andrzejewski’s 2005 total. Andrzejewski holds the school record with 18 in 2004. Schiro’s 31 points last year are third behind Andrzejewski’s 43 and 32 from 2004 and 2005.
Offensive Spark
Greyhound junior Lauren Norcia has provided an offensive spark for the Greyhounds this season and ranks first on the team with six assists. She had three career points entering this season.
Norcia also is second with 10 points, notching two goals this year. The Pepper Pike, Ohio, native scored her first career game-winning goal in a, 2-1, win over Siena on Oct. 14.
She had a career game against Saint Louis on Sept. 4, scoring her first career goal and adding two assists in Loyola’s 4-2 win.
