Sept. 21, 2011

Box Score

Freshman Brittany Russo (Danvers, Mass.) scored the lone goal in the seventh minute and it stood as UMass Lowell defeated American International, 1-0, Wednesday night in a Northeast-10 Conference women’s soccer clash at Cushing Field.

With the win, UMass Lowell halted a three-match winless streak and improved to 3-2-2 overall and 2-1-2 in the NE-10 entering Saturday’s match at Southern New Hampshire (1:00).

AIC suffered its third straight loss and slipped to 2-5-0 overall and 2-3-0 in the Conference. The Yellow Jackets host No. 9 Saint Rose Saturday at 1:00.

Freshman G Jane Hatzikonstantis (Tewksbury, Mass.), who was tested only twice, collected her fourth clean sheet of the season and extended her shutout streak to 380 minutes. Hatzikonstantis has yet to concede a goal this season.

Limited to one goal over the last 291 minutes, the River Hawks wasted little time in going 1-0 ahead. Senior M Maddy Bissaillon (Merrimac, Mass.) released Russo on a break with a volley from the right flank. Russo slotted inside the far post from the right side of the box for her fourth goal of the year.

Inside the second half, UMass Lowell attacked right away and nearly doubled its lead. Russo gained space on the left side and sent a cross into freshman F Haley Benson (Winthrop, Mass.), who turned and shot into the grasp of junior GK Amber Swanston.

Junior F Keanna Santos (Lakeville, Mass.) nearly capitalized in the 60th minute when an AIC defender misplayed a defensive header on which Santos pounced to go one-on-one with Swanston. Santos’ attempt however was right at the goalkeeper.

Three minutes later, AIC gained some momentum and nearly leveled when sophomore M Caroline Heron released junior F Bonnie Boornazian on a break, who fired wide left.

UMass Lowell outshot AIC 13-10 overall and 8-2 on frame. Swanston had seven saves for the Yellow Jackets.