Hall of Fame
Rachael Barbarossa backstopped the most successful four-year run in the history of the UMass Dartmouth women’s soccer program from 1991-94, leading the Corsairs to and overall record of 57-13-5 (.793), three consecutive NCAA Division III Championship Tournament appearances (1992-94) and a berth in the 1992 national championship game.
Barbarossa was a two-time All-Little East Conference selection (1993-94), and was the first player in program history to be named an All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association (now United Soccer Coaches). She posted a career record of 49-10-5 with 39.5 shutouts, 353 career saves, a .907 career save percentage and a .056 career goals against average. To this day, she is the program’s career record holder for wins and shutouts.
The 1992 season is to-date the most successful campaign in program history, as it saw the four-year-old Corsair program post an overall record of 17-3-2 on its way to winning the NCAA Division III New England Regional Championship and advancing to the national final the first time in program history. With Barbarossa in goal, UMass Dartmouth advanced on penalties past Salem State in the first round before recording consecutive 1-0 victories over Kean, Plymouth State and Mary Washington to secure its spot in the DIII title match, where the Corsairs fell to Cortland State, 1-0. Barbarossa started in all 22 games that season, totaling a program-record 17 wins with 130 saves to 12 goals against for a .915 save percentage and 0.56 goals against average.
Barbarossa was named a First-Team All-LEC selection for the first time in 1993 after leading UMass Dartmouth to an overall record of 12-2-3, its first LEC co-championship and NCAA tournament berth, posting an 11-2-3 overall record with a 0.79 goals against average and .846 save percentage with 66 total saves. She was once again named a First-Team All-LEC selection as a senior in 1994, which also saw her named a Second Team NSCAA All-American after posting a record of 12-4-0 with a program-record 11 shutouts, a 0.51 goals against average and career-best .923 save percentage as she totaled 123 saves to just nine goals against. UMass Dartmouth went 14-4-0 and qualified for the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive year in her final collegiate season.
Barbarossa began her collegiate career as a field player, total three goals for six points over her first seven games before transitioning to goalkeeper. The move paid off instantly as she went 9-1-0 with just three goals allowed and 34 saves over the final 10 games of the 1991 campaign, posting a 0.30 goals against average and .919 save percentage. She won each of her first nine starts, including a 5-0 decision over Eastern Connecticut in the opening round of the ECAC Division III New England Tournament.
Barbarossa earned her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from UMass Dartmouth in 1995. She was inducted into the UMass Dartmouth Corsair Hall of Fame in 2000.