Box Score
Junior forward Rachel McCarthy (Reading, Mass.) scored a pair of first half goals and it was all UMass Lowell field hockey needed to defeat Stonehill, 2-1, in its Northeast-10 opener under the lights in Easton, MA on Tuesday.

“It was a hard fought win tonight against a tough Stonehill team—it's always a battle in this rivalry,” said head coach Shannon Hlebichuk. “We still need to work on finishing our opportunities as we go forward, but I'll always take a win.”

The River Hawks (6-1, 1-0 NE-10) will stay on the road, heading to Assumption on Saturday for a 1 PM contest. The Skyhawks (3-4, 0-1 NE-10) will travel to Bentley on Thursday to face the Falcons at 7 PM.

McCarthy got the game off to a strong start, converting a penalty stroke in the 12^th minute. The high-scoring forward tucked a shot inside the right goal post for her 11^th tally of the year to give the River Hawks an early 1-0 advantage.

McCarthy then collected a pass from Melissa Effertz (Oceanside, Calif.) and beat the keeper to the right-side for her second goal of the night in the 27^th minute.

In the final minute of the first half, the Skyhawks cut the lead to one after junior Kelsey Davis (Gardner, Mass.) knocked in a rebound off of a corner chance.

Despite the flurry of activity in the opening 35 minutes, the second half went scoreless as UMass Lowell hung on for the one-goal win.

Stonehill didn't go down without a fight as they outshot the River Hawks 7-5 in the final 35 minutes, but goalkeeper Melanie Hopkins (Harwich, Mass.) was up to the task—stopping all three on-target shots.

UMass Lowell's defense stepped up for its goaltender, blocking six of the Skyhawks' 17 total shots. Hopkins finished with seven saves as she improved to 6-1 on the season. Her shutout streak was ended at 277:24 minutes.

With the conclusion of the match, McCarthy moved into the NE-10 lead in goals (12), points (26) and shots (54), while Hopkins continues to lead the league in save percentage (.897) and goals against average (0.45).