Sept. 8, 2009

Box Score

Audio Recap - The River Hawk Report

The No. 3 UMass Lowell River Hawks (5-0, 0-0 NE-10) shut out Southern Connecticut State University (1-4, 1-0 NE-10), 5-0, on Tuesday evening in non-conference action at Cushing Field.

Katie Enaire (Amesbury, MA) netted two goals in the first half to lift the River Hawks to victory. Enaire continued her recent success against Southern Connecticut, as she tallied four goals in three games against the Owls in the 2008 season.

Enaire opened scoring early, receiving a pass from Jaci Moulton (Baldwinville, MA) front of the cage in the fifth minute of play (4:49). Moulton took a shot and grabbed her own rebound before dishing it to Enaire for the first tally of the game.

She went on to double the lead by capturing her own rebound off the goalkeeper’s pads in the 13th minute of play (12:42), making it a 2-0 game. Her original shot brought SCSU goalkeeper Lauren Zarrella (Morris, CT) to the right side of the cage, and Enaire was able to lift her rebound off her pads and lift it over Zarrella’s right side.

The River Hawks kept the Owls without a single shot in the first half, asserting their defensive skill. Senior Ashley Smith (Killingworth, CT) seemed to have an answer for everything that entered UMass Lowell’s defensive zone, trapping balls and forcing turnovers continuously throughout the half.

In the 40th minute of play, sophomore defender Kayla Littig (Carver, MA) netted her first goal of the year, assisted by Sammy Macy (Tewksbury, MA) off of one of the River Hawks’ six penalty corners on the night.

Junior Liz Day (North Andover, MA) increased the lead to 4-0 after receiving a pass from Annie Hansbury (Plaistow, NH) from the middle of the field 44th minute of play. Hansbury found Day at the top of the circle where she hit a powerful shot straight on the cage for her second goal of the season.

Just over a minute later, UMass Lowell’s fifth and final goal came by way of sophomore Abby Auld (Waltham, MA), who trickled the ball in from just inside the circle with 25:17 remaining in regulation.

Senior co-captain Laura Sullivan (Norwood, MA) kept the River Hawks’ lead at five with some impressive defensive plays late in the game. She stripped multiple Southern Connecticut players of the ball as they came nearer to the defensive zone and she cleared balls downfield as the pressure increased in the final five minutes of play.

The River Hawks outshot their opponents 31-2, while Southern Connecticut goalie Zarrella made 11 saves in the losing effort. UMass Lowell’s goalies split the duties in the cage and Kate Hickey (Medway, MA) stopped the only shot on goal the River Hawks faced. Amy Carbon (Bellingham, MA) earned the win for her play in the first half.

UMass Lowell returns to action on Thursday night, traveling to No. 4 Stonehill for a non-conference tilt against the Skyhawks in Easton, Mass. at 7:00 p.m.