Sept. 7, 2011

Box Score

The reigning NCAA and Northeast-10 Champion River Hawks shutout St. Michael's, 3-0, on Wednesday afternoon in Colchester, VT.

UMass Lowell improves to 2-1 overall, while the Purple Knights drop to 0-3 on the season.

"As a coach, you're always be happy with a shutout," said head coach Shannon Hlebichuk. "Melanie [Hopkins] made some big saves and we needed that defensively. Offensively, it was nice to see different people stepping up and put one in the cage."

The River Hawks peppered the defense early, outshooting St. Michael's 5-0 in the first 15 minutes. Despite the press, goalkeeper Jackie Stacey (West Windsor, Vt.) made a stop and defender Hannah Beardsley (Essex, Mass.) recorded a defensive safe to keep the scoreboard clean.

The levy finally broke in the 26th minute as NE-10 Player of the Week Melissa Effertz (Oceanside, Calif.) scored her fifth goal of the season from the right wing, assisted by Vanessa Kent (Charlton, Mass.). The score gives Effertz a three-game goal streak to start the season and reaffirms her lead in the NE-10.

By the end of the half, UMass Lowell held a 10-0 advantage in shots and had out-cornered the Purple Knights 4-0.

With rest, the River Hawks came out flying in the second half, adding another tally to the scoreboard. Emily Painten (Walpole, Mass.) crossed a pass from the right and found Abby Auld (Waltham, Mass.) in the center of the box for the goal at 37:02. The damage was nearly worse for St. Michael's as Painten then hit the post off of a penalty corner just a minute later.

Painten got another chance in the 47th minute and made it count, scoring her first goal of the season. Midfielder Annie Hansbury (Plaistow, N.H.) sent a shot in on net that was saved by Stacey, but Painten cleaned up the rebound to put UMass Lowell on top by the eventual final score of 3-0.

The River Hawks finished with a 24-7 advantage in shots, as Stacey made eight saves while falling to 0-3. Sophomore Melanie Hopkins (Harwich, Mass.) improves to 2-1 for UMass Lowell and records her first shutout of year, the 18th of her career, while making four saves.

With the win in the books, the River Hawks will switch their focus to the Bentley Falcons. UMass Lowell hosts Bentley at Cushing Field on Saturday at 1 p.m.