UAlbany women's soccer seeking to shatter preseason expectations

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The University at Albany women's soccer team opens up a new season Sunday, and the Great Danes have a lot to prove this year.

Sade Ayinde's bunch is coming off a 3-12-1 campaign in which they missed the America East Tournament for the second straight season - the first time UAlbany had failed to reach the postseason in back-to-back years since 2007-'08.

This group of Danes is hungry to put an end to that drought. And they're far more experienced this season. The top four scorers and top nine minutes leaders from last year's squad have returned.

But even with all that experience, UAlbany was slighted in the America East preseason poll; selected to finish second-to-last out of nine teams. That just added to the competitive fire of this group.

"We see that, and it gives us kind of, like, motivation to basically go against these teams and show them that we can do better than they're predicting," said redshirt junior midfielder Casey Stowell. "We can go on the field, compete with these teams, and we can win. We're excited to prove that this season."

UAlbany did have one selection to the preseason all-conference team: senior forward Selma Elverum, who has been encouraged by the team's effort throughout the offseason.

"I think the commitment we put in during the spring season is going to show the difference in our team from last season to this season," said Elverum. "All spring we worked together, and I think we've really built a strong team."

The Danes will immediately be put to the test. Sunday's season opener is at the University of Georgia, which is coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance.

Coach Ayinde is looking for her team to have success in certain facets of the game, rather than get caught up in just the end result.

"If we are able to come out of there and say that we were disciplined, we defended as well as we could, we limited their opportunities and when we had chances, we took advantage of them, then [that's] successful," said Ayinde. "I think we're going in with an open mind. I think we're hopeful in being able to learn from the experience. Georgia will probably finish in the top-25 this year, so it will definitely be a tough, tough game. For us, I think the mentality that we go into it with and how we come out of it - those are the biggest takeaways."

Kickoff from Athens, Georgia on Sunday is set for 11:00 a.m.