Oct. 12, 2011

Box Score | Monteiro: A continuation

Junior Keanna Santos (Lakeville, Mass.) broke a 1-1 deadlock in the 89th minute to lead UMass Lowell over No. 18 Merrimack College, 2-1, Wednesday night in a Northeast-10 Conference women's soccer clash at Cushing Field.

The win was the sixth straight for the River Hawks, who improved to 8-2-2 overall and 7-1-2 in the NE-10 entering Saturday's home match against Saint Anselm(1:00).

Merrimack slipped to 11-2-0 overall and 9-2-0 in the Conference and hosts No. 7 Saint Rose Saturday at 1:00.

UMass Lowell trailed 1-0 at the break, but leveled three minutes into the second half when junior M Jenna Costa (Attleboro, Mass.) crossed to junior B Taylor Hartmann (Feeding Hills, Mass.) who lofted a curling right-footed attempt from the top right corner of the box over the reach of Merrimack GK Kiley Horne.

The River Hawks continued to attack throughout the second half and were rewarded in the 89th minute. Freshman F Brittany Russo (Danvers, Mass.) took control of a failed clearance on the left side, beat a defender and crossed to an unmarked Santos into the box, whose left-footed shot sailed inside the right post.

The goal was the result of constant attacking by UMass Lowell in the second half, in which they outshot the Warriors 9-3 and 21-5 for the match (14-3 on target).

Merrimack opened the scoring in the 10th minute when senior B Jessica Peacock got loose at the six-yard box and headed home a corner kick from junior M Jamie Alnwick. The goal was the first conceded by the River Hawks in 460 minutes, spanning six matches.

The River Hawks nearly leveled twice in the half, the first in the 19th minute when senior M Amy Cramer (Marlborough, Mass.) shot from the top right of the box to be denied off the crossbar.

In the 26th, Horne was at her best to deny two shots in quick succession. Sophomore B Sarah Raye (Salem, N.H.) broke down the left side of the box and tried to slot inside the far post, but Horne gloved left.

Santos pounded on the rebound, only to be snuffed by Horne again, while her second attempt was cleared off the line by a defender for a corner kick.

Merrimack nearly went ahead in the 59th when sophomore F Jenna Zechner took a centering pass deep in the UMass Lowell box, eliciting a diving save from Carlson.

Horne had 11 saves. Carlson stopped two shots for the River Hawks.