Nov. 15, 2009
Box Score
Despite holding advantages in corners and shots, the UMass Lowell River Hawks were unable to rally and overcome the four-time repeat National Champion Bloomsburg Huskies in Sunday’s Division II National title game, played at Stonehill’s W.B. Mason Stadium. The River Hawks fell by a score of 3-2.
UMass Lowell was the #5 seed in the National Tournament and had previously upset Bentley and Stonehill en route to their third consecutive title game appearance against the #1 overall seeded Bloomsburg.
Despite possession being split between the teams during the first five minutes of the play, Bloomsburg was able to capitalize on its first penalty corner of the afternoon. The Huskies' leading scorer Amanda Riley (Tannersville, PA) notched her 26th of the year in the 5th minute of play (4:38), swatting in a deflected pass from five yards out.
Refusing to let the game slip away early, though, the River Hawks' Jaci Moulton (Baldwinville, MA) retaliated less than two minutes later. After UMass Lowell's first penalty corner, Liz Day (North Andover, MA) took a shot from the right side of the cage before Moulton grabbed the rebound and for the second game in a row, tied the game at one apiece. It was Moulton's tenth goal of the year in the seventh minute of play (6:01).
The Huskies took back their lead in the 17th minute of play (17:16), bringing the ball downfield for freshman midfielder Alexis Weber (Bear, DE) to score off a pass from Ashley Miller (Perkasie, PA) at the top of the circle. The shot, tipped in from straight in front of the cage, gave Bloomsburg the 2-1 lead halfway through the first.
UMass Lowell held onto possession for nearly the remainder of the first half and were able to hold the Huskies to the one-goal lead. At the end of the first 35 minutes, UMass Lowell had outshot Bloomsburg 4-3 and out-cornered the Huskies 2-1.
In the second, the ball was back and forth with each team maintaining possession for small doses, but unable to gain momentum. Netminder Amy Carbon (Bellingham, MA) made a huge save with just over 10 minutes left in regulation to keep the River Hawks down just one goal and send possession down the other side of the field, but UMass Lowell wasn’t able to capitalize right away.
Riley struck again for the Huskies, tallying a a breakaway goal in the 55th minute of play (54:15) to boost Bloomsburg to a 3-1 lead as the clock wound down. She drove the ball from just inside the circle after receiving a pass from Julia Rush (Quakertown, PA).
That gave UMass Lowell the spark it needed to get back on the board, as Moulton passed in the ball on a penalty corner to Sammy Macy (Tewksbury, MA) on the left side of the circle for a bomb to bring it back within one in the 66th minute of play (65:24).
It wasn't enough, though, as UMass Lowell was unable to tack on another to tie the game before the clock hit zero.
The River Hawks had six shots on goal compared to the Huskies’ four and UMass Lowell held the 6-3 advantage in penalty corners.
UMass Lowell finishes its season with an 18-6 record, while Bloomsburg capped off the 2009 season at 22-1.
River Hawk defender Ashley Smith (Killingworth, CT), Moulton and Macy, were named to the All-Tournament Team.
This year’s senior class finishes its career 75-19 along with four NCAA Semifinals and three NCAA Championship game appearances. They have also nabbed two Northeast-10 Championships and an NE-10 Regular Season title during their tenure.
