Women’s Soccer Opens 2022 Campaign with Bryant on Thursday

The Kick Off

• The Saint Peter's University women's soccer team will open the 2022 season on Thursday, August 18, as the team hosts the Bryant Bulldogs at Jaroschak Field.
• The Peacocks are seeking their second season-opening win in four years on Thursday, following the 2019 season's 3-1 victory on opening day against Delaware State.
• Saint Peter's finished with a 3-13 record last season, with all three wins coming in conference play.

History with the Bulldogs

• The Peacocks and the Terriers will meet for the second time ever on Thursday.
• The Bulldogs finished with a record of 8-10 in 2021. Two of those wins came on the road.
• Bryant won the previous matchup between the two teams back in the 2010 season.

Say Hello to the 2022 Peacocks

• The Peacocks return 11 members of the 2021 squad, as the team will be led by graduate captains Brooke Boutchie and Kinlee Bruns. 
• Graduates Fatou Doucoure and DayVonna Gill return to help anchor the back-line for Saint Peter's, while Mya Daniels and Skyler Owens make up the rest of the team's returning graduate class.
• Jazmin Brown is the only senior on the 2022 roster.
• Leslie Pineda is the only returning junior on the team. Iva Trifunovic, a native from Serbia, transfers in as a junior to SPU from Tyler Junior College.
• Annabelle Adams, Carlota Pastor Romero, and Lula Mansilla Medina make up the returners from last year's freshman class. Mei Li O'Neil and Morgan Day transfer in as sophomores, coming from Southwest Baptist University and The Academy of Art University, respectively.
• On top of the three transfers, Saint Peter's welcomes 14 freshmen this season. Two come from by way of Canada as Gabrielle Saint-Jacques hails from Montreal, while Stella Accettola comes from Maple, Ontario. Samantha Garcia, Tyler Pamperin, and Alexa Cici add to the backline for the 2022 campaign. The Peacocks also bolstered the midfield, adding Alyssa Hackett and Isabella Fernandez de Cueto. The team also added a bunch of forwards, including Keely Donovan, Brianna Lopez, Taylor Moyer, Jersey City native Xochilt Turijan, and Gianna Grassifulli. The Peacocks also bring in two new goalies in Olivia Mackethan and Emma Lopes.

Meet the Staff

• Head coach Julia Bazi returns for her third season as head coach of the Saint Peter's University women's soccer team. She is back in Jersey City after serving as an assistant coach with the Peacocks from 2012-13.
• In addition to her time at Saint Peter's, Bazi has held collegiate coaching positions at a number of prior stops, including three years as head coach at Fashion Institute of Technology, as well as assistant coaching positions at Fairleigh Dickinson and Franklin Pierce. 
• Bazi is joined by assistant coach Brett Axelrod, who brings over a decade of coaching experience with him, having worked on staff at his alma mater Whitman College, as well as Fordham and LIU with a focus on goalkeepers. This will also be his third year at Saint Peter's.
• Volunteer assistant coach Ludy De Araujo Lopes completes the coaching trio after playing with both Sacred Heart and Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, where he served as a coaching graduate assistant in 2019. This will also be his third year at Saint Peter's.

Up Next

• The Peacocks are slated to head to Orono, Maine to face Maine on Sunday, August 21. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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