Oct. 7, 2010

Box Score

The UMass Lowell men’s soccer team (1-8-1, 0-6-1 NE-10) fell to the Bentley Falcons (7-1-2, 4-0-2 NE-10), by a score of 3-2, in Northeast-10 Conference action on Cushing Field on Thursday afternoon.

UMass Lowell tied its best offensive output this season with two first-half goals, but was unable to hold on for their first conference victory of the year, as Bentley retaliated early in the second half to secure the victory.

The River Hawks opened scoring early, as Asley Barrios (Carazo, Nicaragua) tallied his first goal of the year to put UMass Lowell up 1-0. The junior faked out the goalkeeper, sneaking the ball through the bottom right of the net on a free kick opportunity in the sixth minute of play.

Bentley retaliated six minute later, as sophomore Brennan DaCosta sent an outlet pass to senior Ryan Hatch on the right side of the field, giving Hatch the opportunity to score his second goal of the season. His hard shot found its way to the back of the net on the bottom left corner, knotting the match at one apiece.

UMass Lowell goalkeeper Connor Askins (Boston, Mass.) kept the River Hawks in the match, as DaCosta came back moments later with a solid opportunity that was halted by Askins, preserving the 1-1 tie.

The River Hawks went ahead in the 22nd minute of play, as Guillermo Cisneros (Methuen, Mass.) advanced the ball down the field, finding junior Mohammed Saeed (Woburn, Mass.) for his second goal of the year and the 2-1 lead.

Bentley missed a solid scoring opportunity as Jordan Bridge headed the ball directly in front of the net, in the 28th minute of play. The ball grazed the crossbar and went out of bounds, allowing the River Hawks to maintain their lead.

Junior Matheus Candido (Lowell, Mass.) almost gave UMass Lowell an insurance goal before the break, but his shot in the 29th minute of play went wide to the right and the squad held the one-goal lead through the end of the half.

The Falcons struck early in the second half, though, scoring a pair of goals that would seal their 3-2 victory over UMass Lowell. In the 50th minute of play, forward Matt Solomon crossed the ball from the right side of the field to the far post, as DaCosta received the ball, touched it at the goal line and junior Rasmus Christensen tapped it into the bottom right of the net to knot the match at two all.

Solomon followed up in the 53rd minute of play, receiving a cross pass from the left side by Christensen and crashing the net for the game-winning tally.

Bentley outshot the River Hawks 17-7 in the game, while UMass Lowell’s Askins made three stops. Bentley’s Mike Nikiforov recorded a pair of saves in the game. Bentley also held the 7-1 advantage in corner kicks in the match.

Next up, UMass Lowell will host Le Moyne on Saturday afternoon in conference action on Cushing Field at 1:00 p.m.