Box Score
Senior M
Bruno Bonicontro (Marlboro, Mass.) scored in the 11
th minute and while junior GK
Chris Maierle (Wantagh, N.Y.) stopped a penalty kick in the second half as UMass Lowell defeated Saint Michael's College, 1-0, Wednesday afternoon in a Northeast-10 Conference men's soccer clash at Duffy Field.
With the win, UMass Lowell improved to 9-0-1 overall and 8-0-0 in the NE-10 entering Saturday's match at Saint Rose (1:30). The River Hawks currently sit in first place with 24 points and hold a 12-point lead over Southern New Hampshire (4-1) and Franklin Pierce (4-1) with three matches in hand.
Saint Michael's slipped to 6-3-2 overall and 2-3-2 in the Conference.
Bonicontro scored the winner, his eighth goal of the year, in the 11
th minute on a 50-yard run through five Saint Michael's defenders. The play started on a clearance out of the UMass Lowell zone which went to Bonicontro's boot. He immediately dribbled between three defenders on the right side and left two more in his wake down the left side before slotting inside far post.
Saint Michael's best opportunity to level came in the 65
th minute when UMass Lowell was whistled for a handball in the box, resulting in a penalty kick. Maierle blocked the attempt to his low left by junior F Anthony Stanley, then reacted nicely to smother Stanley's rebound to keep the River Hawks ahead.
The shutout was Maierle's third of the season and second in three matches as he stopped eight shots. Senior GK Logan Kingman had seven saves for Saint Michael's.
“Saint Michael's tried to attack on the counter, which they do a good job of,” said head coach
Christian Figueroa. “I thought out center mids did a good job pressuring their center mids. I thought our backline did a good job reading their long passes and with their strikers up top.
“I particularly thought
Alex Sindoni (Haverhill, Mass.) was very good, especially on the restarts," he added. "He won about everything in the air.”
UMass Lowell nearly doubled its lead in the 48
th minute when sophomore F
Homero Morais (Somerville, Mass.) crossed to junior M
Luiny Ascencio (North Andover, Mass.) at the left post, but Ascencio's touch went agonizingly wide.
UMass Lowell outshot Saint Michael's 20-14 overall, but shots on target were even at 8-8. The River Hawks also built a 4-1 edge on corner kicks.