Oct. 3, 2009

Box Score

Saint Anselm College took advantage of a 55th minute penalty kick to hand UMass Lowell its fourth straight loss, 2-1, Saturday afternoon in a Northeast-10 Conference men’s soccer clash.

With the loss, the River Hawks slipped to 3-6 overall and 2-5 in the NE-10 entering Tuesday’s match at Bentley (3:30). Saint Anselm improved to 3-6-2 overall and 3-3-0 in the Conference.

UMass Lowell jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute when freshman M Bruno Bonicontro (Marlboro, MA) fed a through-ball to senior F Jeffery Danso (Worcester, MA) who beat a defender and slotted in the low left corner.

The Hawks leveled less than seven minutes before the break as senior goalkeeper Ryan Richards (Holden, MA) thwarted an attempt by senior D Paul Kilday, but junior F Giuseppe La Rocca was there to head in the rebound.

Saint Anselm went ahead in the 56th when the River Hawks were whistled for a professional foul in the box. Sophomore G Matt Lavery (Nashua, NH), who played the second half when Richards sustained an injury, guessed correctly but sophomore F Keesen Howe beat him to the right corner.

Prior to the penalty, UMass Lowell pressured and went close twice in succession. In the 54th, Danso was fed another through-ball, but shot wide right.

Within the minute, junior F Stephen Potcner (Wilmington, MA) was denied by freshman G Eric Moriarty, and Danso’s header off the rebound went agonizingly over the bar.

UMass Lowell outshot Saint Anselm 20-16 overall, but the Hawks had a 12-8 edge on target. Richards had six saves in the first half while Lavery, in his first-ever appearance, stopped four shots.

Moriarty had seven saves for Saint Anselm.