No. 4 UMass Lowell Stuns No. 1 LIU Post, 1-0 in NCAA East Region Semifinal

Sunday, November 11

4:00

University of Massachusetts Lowell

15-5-1

LIU Post

18-2-0

Team	1	2	Final F
UMass Lowell	0	1	1
LIU Post	0	0	0

Sophomore Juan Moreira (fourth from the right) heads home in the 88th minute.

Photo by: Bob Ellis

No. 4 UMass Lowell Stuns No. 1 LIU Post, 1-0 in NCAA East Region Semifinal

11/11/2012 7:43:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

River Hawks move on to East Region Championship Friday against Southern New Hampshire

Sophomore B Juan Moreira (Leominster, Mass.) headed home a corner kick in the 88^th minute as No. 4 UMass Lowell defeated No. 1 Long Island University Post, 1-0, Sunday afternoon in the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Tournament East Region Semifinal at Cushing Field.

With the victory, UMass Lowell improved to 15-5-1 and moves on to meet No. 2 Southern New Hampshire for the East Region championship match Friday at 6:00 at SNHU's George J. Larkin Field. The SNHU-UMass Lowell winner will face the winner between Mercyhurst and Gannon University Sunday (1:00) at Larkin Field in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal.

LIU Post, also ranked No. 1 in the country, ends its season with an 18-2 record.

“I thought we did a very good job of keeping them off the board,” said head coach Christian Figueroa. “I knew we would come out to play today. We had to. I think we earned it.”

The victory tied UMass Lowell's school record for wins in a season (the River Hawks won 15 matches in 2003 and 2004, Figueroa's freshman and sophomore seasons). It also avenged LIU Post's 3-0 victory over the River Hawks on Oct. 10 in Brookville, N.Y.

Moreira scored the winner after the River Hawks earned a corner kick on the right side. Senior M Bruno Bonicontro (Marlboro, Mass.) steered the inswinging kick to Moreira at the far post, whose header bounced between a pair of LIU Post defenders inside the right post.

“I think Juan has the bragging rights for the rest of this week,” Figueroa quipped. “He earned it.”

The goal was the end product on a day which the River Hawks attacked relentlessly. Just minutes prior, UMass Lowell's best opportunity came when junior M Daniel Galvin (Attleboro, Mass.) weaved his way into the box, found space and ripped a low, hard shot under Post GK Matthias Spinnars, who made a partial stop, but junior B Eirik Bjoernoe was there to clear as the ball trickled toward the line.

Galvin and sophomore F Homero Morais (Somerville, Mass.) combined splendidly the entire match and consistently caused problems for the LIU Post defense.

Galvin had four shots on target and earned the pivotal corner kick which Moreira converted when Morais took a pass from the back off his chest and flicked to Galvin on the run. Spinnars parried Galvin's shot wide, setting up Bonicontro's corner kick.

“We had opportunities in getting behind them, which enabled us opportunities to score,” Figueroa noted.
In the first half, Morais and Galvin nearly scored on a similar play as Morais settled and crossed from the left side to Galvin at the far post. Galvin's side volley, however, was wide left.

LIU Post, however, had several chances of its own and nearly converted on consecutive plays in the 56^th minute, which brought out the best of junior GK Chris Maierle (Wantagh, N.Y.). Junior F Cemil Turan took a through-ball through the UMass Lowell defense, but Maierle read the play well and smothered Turan's attempt.

LIU Post, however, got the rebound, and nearly capitalized on a similar play, but Maierle was ready and thwarted the shot by freshman M Per Forgaard.

In the 80^th minute, Turan crossed to Forgaard on the run on the right side of the box, but Forgaard put his attempt over the bar.

UMass Lowell outshot LIU Post 25-14 overall and 11-4 on target. Maierle stopped four shots while Spinnars has 10 saves.