Oct. 26, 2011

Box Score

Sophomore F Andrea Bates scored two goals to lead Assumption College over UMass Lowell, 2-1, Wednesday night in a Northeast-10 Conference women’s soccer clash at the Multi-Sport Stadium.

The loss was the second straight for the River Hawks, who slipped to 10-4-2 overall and 9-3-2 in the NE-10 entering Saturday’s regular season finale against Le Moyne at Cushing Field (1:00).

Despite the loss, UMass Lowell clinched third place and will have the No. 3 seed for the NE-10 Tournament next week despite the outcome of Saturday’s match. The River Hawks host a Tournament first round match Tuesday at a time to be announced.

Assumption halted a five-match losing skid and improved to 4-11-1 overall and 2-11-1 in the Conference.

UMass Lowell outshot the Greyhound 17-9 overall and 9-7 on target, but could not find the goal more than once. Assumption opened the scoring five minutes from the half and again not two minutes into the second half and stood firm the rest of the way.

“I give all the credit to Assumption,” said head coach Elie Monteiro. “They played like a top five team. They were more motivated to win balls and protect their home field. They didn’t play like they were the last-place team in the league.”

Bates scored her first in the 40th minute when freshman F Kelsey Purcell crossed from the right side to Bates who was unmarked at the far post and slotted home.

Bates added her second in the 47th minute when she took a centering pass from junior M Elizabeth Blasser between the defense and fired past sophomore GK Jill Carlson (Lexington, Mass.).

Minutes later, junior B Taylor Hartmann (Feeding Hills, Mass.) nearly scored but was denied by the post.

Junior M Julia Donigian (Wakefield, Mass.) gave the River Hawks a lifeline in the 71st minute when, following a corner kick from senior M Maddy Bissaillon (Merrimac, Mass.), she pounced on a loose ball in the box and finished with emphasis to cut the lead in half.

UMass Lowell poured players up forward and outshot Assumption 7-0 the rest of the way, but came away empty. Freshman GK Rachel Edgin stopped eight shots for the win while Carlson had five saves for UMass Lowell.