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It's been a long time – 12 years exactly – since the UMass Lowell women's soccer team played against the defending NCAA Champion and No. 1 team in the country.

The River Hawks get another shot this Saturday at Cushing Field when it hosts The College of Saint Rose Saturday (3 p.m.) at Cushing Field.

The Northeast-10 Conference opener for both teams, Saint Rose enters the match winner of its first two matches: 10-0 at New York Institute of Technology and 5-0 at home over Nyack College.

UMass Lowell, which ascended to No. 12 in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Division II Poll, defeated Bridgeport, 2-0, Friday and drew 2-2 in double overtime with LIU Post Sunday in the River Hawk Classic.

On paper, it's No. 1 vs. No. 12 and Nos. 1 and 2 in the East Region, but UMass Lowell head coach Elie Monteiro is approaching it like he does any match: emphasis on possession, defense and particularly perspective.

“This game will not make or break our season,” said Monteiro in his 11^th season. “It obviously would be great to get a good performance against Saint Rose, but the result in this game is not going to guarantee us or keep us out of the playoffs.”

UMass Lowell and Saint Rose met last November in the NCAA Tournament East Region Championship in Albany, N.Y., in which Saint Rose prevailed 2-1. The Golden Knights scored in the 34^th and 72^nd minutes before the River Hawks pulled one back in the 84^th.

During the 2011 regular season, the two teams drew 1-1 in Albany with Brittany Russo (Danvers, Mass.) opening the scoring in the third minute and Saint Rose's Brittany Barry equalizing in the 39^th.

Saint Rose returns 17 veterans, including three of its top five scorers, from the 2011 squad while UMass Lowell has 14 vets and six starters – four of its top five scorers – returning from 2011.

“Saint Rose is very disciplined on set pieces, especially,” Monteiro said. “They use their athleticism and speed very well all over the field. But the biggest thing is their discipline to stick with their game plan throughout the match.

“We've been focusing a lot on one vs. one battles,” he added. “We have to win the majority of those to increase our chances of success against them.”
 
Saint Rose has history on its side: The Golden Knights lead the all-time series against UMass Lowell, 16-1-1, as last year's 1-1 draw during the regular season halted a 15-match losing streak.

UMass Lowell's sole win over the Golden Knights came in 1995 (3-1) in Lowell, UMass Lowell's first season. Two of the last four meetings have gone to overtime.

Saturday's match marks the sixth-ever time that UMass Lowell has met the defending NCAA Champion. The last occurrence was in 2000 when it visited Franklin Pierce, the 1999 Division II champion.