Oct. 8, 2011

Box Score

Ali Ferraro (Kingston, N.Y.) had a hand in both goals as the fourth-ranked River Hawks outlasted Franklin Pierce, 2-1, in Rindge, NH on Saturday afternoon.

UMass Lowell field hockey snaps back from a disappointing overtime loss at Bentley on Thursday to improve to 12-2 overall this season and 7-0 in the Northeast-10. The Ravens fall to 5-8 on the year and 2-3 in conference play.

With the first 20 minutes yielding no results, the River Hawks broke through with the game's first goal at 21:22 on a penalty corner. Ferraro delivered the ball on the set play to Melissa Effertz (Oceanside, Calif.) at the top of the circle and Effertz uncorked her 10th goal of the year to take a 1-0 lead.

Having found its rhythm, UMass Lowell scored again at 26:39 to take control of the match. Ferraro got separation from the defense on a breakaway down the side and beat the goalkeeper from 20 feet out for her 13th score of the campaign.

At the half, the River Hawks had been outshot, 7-to-8, and out-cornered, 3-to-4, but led by two on the scoreboard.

After a stalemate through the first two minutes of the second half, the Ravens pushed across a score in the 56th minute. Tia Levins (Manchester, Maine) stole the ball on the left wing, chipped it by the defense and tucked the shot inside the right post to draw the score within one.

After the goal, UMass Lowell's defense clamped down to allow just one shot by Franklin Pierce, which was blocked, over the final 13 minutes.

Goalkeeper Melanie Hopkins (Harwich, Mass.) earned her 12th victory of the year, making two saves and allowing one score. Her counter-part Brittany Nyzio (Attleboro, Mass.) managed four saves, but surrendered two goals to fall to 4-6 on the season.

Overall, the River Hawks outshot Franklin Pierce, 15-14, while both team's earned nine penalty corners.

UMass Lowell will look to carry today's momentum into Wednesday when the River Hawks host Adelphi at 7 p.m. on Cushing Field.