Oct. 27, 2010

Box Score | Monteiro: 'All heart and all effort'

Senior forward Brianne Bozzella (Wilmington, Mass.) broke a 0-0 deadlock in the 81st minute to lead UMass Lowell over Assumption College, 1-0, Wednesday night in the Northeast-10 Conference regular season finale at Cushing Field.

With the victory, UMass Lowell improved to 8-8-1 overall and 8-7-0 in the NE-10 and earned the No. 7 seed for the NE-10 Tournament. The River Hawks, making their seventh straight postseason appearance, visit Merrimack Sunday afternoon (1:00) in the quarterfinal.

Assumption ends its season at 4-11-2 overall and 4-10-1 in the NE-10.

A victory was vital for the River Hawks to earn their place in the NE-10 Tournament. Earlier Wednesday, New Haven stunned Adelphi, 1-0, to jump ahead, albeit temporarily, in the standings, pushing the River Hawks into ninth.

Bozzella's goal was the end product of remarkable work by senior D Ella Merullo (Wakefield, Mass), who sprang to action on the left side in keeping an errant ball in play deep in the Assumption's corner.

Merullo eluded a defender and crossed along the endline to sophomore F Keanna Santos (Lakeville, Mass.), who rounded Assumption goalkeeper Allison Brudner and touched across the goalmouth to Bozzella, whose sliding toe-poke elicited celebrations on both sides of the field.

Two minutes later, the River Hawks nearly doubled their lead when junior M Maddy Bissaillon (Merrimac, Mass.) lashed from the right side off the gloves of Brudner and bounced before the line but was cleared by a defender.

Both teams had opportunities in the early going. UMass Lowell was gifted a chance in the 12th minute when freshman M Sarah Raye (Salem, N.H.) latched on to a cross that was cleared off the line by Assumption defender Kristin Bateas.

The River Hawks avoided disaster three minutes later when a shot by freshman M Justine DiDonato was deflected to the foot of graduate Katie DiCioccio's, whose attempt was cleared off the line by a defender.

Sophomore F Julia Donigian (Wakefield, Mass.) nearly put the River Hawks ahead in the 40th minute when she ran on to a through-ball from sophomore M Jessica Costa (Attleboro, Mass.) and tucked past a charging Brudner only to miss agonizingly wide left.

UMass Lowell outshot the Greyhounds 17-11 overall and 10-6 on target. Freshman GK Micaela Butlin (Milton, Mass.) earned her seventh clean sheet of the season with five saves while Brudner stopped eight shots.