Sept. 2, 2009

Box Score

Two Wins on a Wednesday - Men's Soccer and Field Hockey - September 2, 2009

Senior F Jeffery Danso (Worcester, MA) scored in the 109th minute to lift the UMass Lowell over No. 15 Dowling College Wednesday afternoon in a non-conference men’s soccer season-opener at Cushing Field.

With the victory, the River Hawks improved to 1-0 and enjoy a week hiatus until hosting Dominican College Wednesday at 7:00. Dowling slipped to 1-2 and visit Le Moyne Saturday at 3:00.

As the match seemed destine for a draw, sophomore M Matheus Candido (Lowell, MA) played a volley to junior F Stephen Potcner (Wilmington, MA), who was able to get a touch with his head while being felled in the box. Danso, however, was there for the spoils and easily slotted home for the winner.

“I saw Matheus play the ball in, and Steve did a good job getting a first touch on it,” Danso said. “I saw the rebound and put my foot through the ball and finished. I kept looking at the clock and I knew this was the last chance I had. There was no way I was going to let us down.”

The victory capped a stellar debut for head coach Bryan Scales, who took over the program in April after Ted Priestly was named head coach at Holy Cross.

“I thought it was a good indication for us that we were able to battle back from adversity, being down a goal,” Scales noted. “We were able to get back into the game and get the game-winner. Our guys deserve a lot of credit for battling on.”

The River Hawks struck first in the 10th minute when senior M Jhony Valencia (Lowell, MA) led a counterattack and found Danso on the left flank. Danso then crossed to a streaking Potcner who sidefooted home.

Dowling leveled in the 32nd minute on a similar play, when senior M Moussa Keita (Guinea, West Africa) tapped in off a cross by Mouhamed Mboup (Dakar, Senegal) and a touch by senior F Lamine Traore (Mali, Africa).

The Golden Lions went ahead 2-1 in the 61st when sophomore M Harald Gundhus (Oslo, Norway) steered a corner kick to the head of freshman D Stefan Draskovic (Belgrade, Serbia).

The lead was short-lived as Dowling gifted the equalizer in the 65th minute. After freshman M Bruno Bonicontro (Marlboro, MA) was fouled just outside the box near the endline, Valencia curled a free kick which was mishandled by sophomore G Mads Aastrup (Gistrup, Denmark), enabling senior D Rudy Kocandrle (Northboro, MA) for the easy tap.

UMass Lowell had a slight edge on shots – 15-14 overall and 7-4 on target – as senior G Ryan Richards (Holden, MA) had two saves. Aalstrup stopped four shots for Dowling.

“I thought we moved the ball pretty well at times, but I thought we were a little sloppy in some instances,” Scales added. “But our guys in the back held solid. Ryan was terrific in goal and that allowed us to get back into the game.

“That was a heavyweight fight and our guys came through,” he added.