CHICAGO (October 19, 2022) – With just two games remaining in the 2022 regular season, the Loyola University Chicago women's soccer team (6-7-3, 2-5-1 A-10) will battle for its postseason life this week.  The Ramblers will close the home portion of their schedule on Thursday evening at 7 p.m., welcoming Massachusetts to Loyola Soccer Park before venturing east for a 1 p.m. (CT) Sunday matinee at Richmond.
 
Loyola enters as part of a congested pack in the Atlantic 10 Conference standings that sees the sixth through 13^th spots separated by only six points.  The top eight teams in the final league table qualify for the Atlantic 10 Conference Women's Soccer Championship.
 
Last Time Out: After dropping a hard-fought 1-0 decision to VCU last Thursday in Richmond, Va., Loyola picked up a valuable point in the conference standings as it battled to a scoreless stalemate with Duquesne on Sunday at Loyola Soccer Park.  The Ramblers dominated the pace of play for large spells, putting nine of their 16 attempts on target.  Naya Lipkens tallied a pair of saves in goal as the Maroon & Gold notched its fifth shutout of the season.
 
vs. Massachusetts: Massachusetts appears to have hit its stride at the right time, picking up wins in three of its last four games to move to 5-6-5 overall and 4-2-2 against Atlantic 10 Conference opposition.
 
The Minutewomen's current run of good form has seen them rocket up to fifth in the A-10 table entering the final week of the regular season.
 
Fifth-year head coach Jason Dowiak's team boasts arguably the Atlantic 10's top offensive threat in Lauren Bonavita.  Bonavita has a conference-best 10 goals to her name this season, a mark that ranks 17th nationally in Division I, and has accounted for just under 53 percent of Massachusetts' production this season.  Oliva Gouldsbury, Grace Pinkus, and Ella Curry have also packed a punch in the final third, each adding two goals.
 
In goal, Bella Mendoza and Megan Olszewski have shared time between the pipes, with Mendoza, who holds a 1.58 goals against average, seeing the majority of the      minutes as of late.
 
vs. Richmond: Like Loyola, Richmond enters the week with its back to the wall when it comes to the postseason.
 
Coming off a 1-0 setback to St. Bonaventure, the Spiders, who tussle with Davidson on Thursday, sit just a point ahead of Loyola in the league table at 2-4-2 (3-9-3 overall).
 
Led by fifth-year head coach Marty Beall, Richmond's offense is led by the trio of Emma Coleman, Emma Shields, and Molly Wierman, who have each found the back of the net twice for a Richmond attack that has scored only seven goals.
 
Taylor Montague has played in every minute of all 15 games in goal, posting a 1.33 goals against average.
 
Series Stuff: This week's matchups will mark Loyola's first meetings with both Massachusetts and Richmond in program history.
 
Up Next: The Atlantic 10 Conference Women's Soccer Championship is slated to begin October 28-29 with quarterfinal-round matchups set to take place at campus sites.