Oct. 23, 2010

Box Score

Sophomore D Evan Spann (Acton, Mass.) and freshman M Kyle Garvan (Braintree, Mass.) each opened their scoring accounts as UMass Lowell defeated the College of Saint Rose, 2-1, Saturday afternoon in a Northeast-10 Conference men’s soccer match at Sullivan Field.

With the victory, UMass Lowell improved to 2-10-2 overall and 1-8-2 in the NE-10 entering Tuesday night’s home finale against Merrimack College (7:00). With the loss, Saint Rose slipped to 1-14-1 overall and 0-11-0 in the Conference.

UMass Lowell broke a 0-0 drought nearly four minutes into the second half when junior D Asley Barrios (Revere, Mass.) sent a through-ball in the middle of the box to an oncoming Spann, who touched into the low right corner for a 1-0 lead.

The River Hawks doubled their lead in the 67th minute when freshman M Neil Lavanchy (Scituate, Mass.) crossed from the right side to Garvan, who lashed home side the far post.

“Our guys were very good on set pieces today,” said Interim Head Coach Christian Figueroa. “One led to a goal and another almost led to a goal.”

Saint Rose pulled a goal back in the 77th minute when senior M Liam Barrett crossed from the right side to senior M Mark Quinn, whose header beat freshman GK Connor Askins (Boston, Mass.).

Both teams attacked and hit the woodwork a combined four times. The River Hawks nearly took a 1-0 lead in the 42nd minute when junior Mohammed Saeed (Woburn, Mass.) found daylight from six yards out and lashed against the post.

Freshman D Alan McGrath had two chances after UMass Lowell took a 1-0 lead. In the 52nd minute, he was denied by the crossbar. On the rebound, freshman M Dylan Klippenstein tried to slot home but his effort was cleared off the line by a UMass Lowell defender.

Six minutes later, McGrath uncorked another effort but was denied by the post.

Five minutes after Garvan gave UMass Lowell a 2-0 lead, Spann nearly had his second off another set piece from Barrios, but his touch deflected off the woodwork and into the grasp of Saint Rose goalkeeper Patrik Ohlsson.

“(Stephen) Potcner was waiting to jump on that,” Figueroa said. “It was an unlucky bounce. A couple of inches one way or another could’ve made a big difference.”

Shots favored Saint Rose 11-10 overall and 5-3 on target. Askins had three saves for the River Hawks while Ohlsson stopped one shot.