Box Score
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LOWELL, Mass. - The UMass Lowell field hockey team (4-10, 0-3) dropped a hard-fought, 2-1 decision against America East Conference opponent and No. 20 ranked, the University of Maine (9-6, 3-0), on Friday evening at Wicked Blue Field in Lowell. Junior Marzana Fiedtkou (Georgetown, Guyana) scored her first career goal in the outing to pace the River Hawks' offensive effort in the outing.
 
"Overall I thought we were due for a game like this that shows we can compete with anyone," said Head Coach Shannon Hlebichuk. "We hadn't been playing our best over the past four games, so our effort tonight has to be commended, especially against the No. 20 team in the country. [Marzana] was on task for us tonight. We really needed her to step up and she was doing that well. We worked really hard with the corner unit all week, so it was good for us to earn that goal off a corner, and hopefully we'll progress from here and score on a couple more on Sunday."
 
The Black Bears notched five shots on target in the first 13 minutes of play to no avail, as freshman goalkeeper Kelsey Federico (Windham, N.H.) was solid in front of the cage en route to 11 saves in the contest. UMass Lowell came close to breaking the game open when senior Bianca Jones (Watertown, Mass.) received a pass in the circle with the opposing keeper out of position, but her backhanded shot missed just wide, getting caught in the left side of the net.
 
The River Hawks got on the board and ended their four-game scoreless streak at 15:21 on their second corner of the night. Senior Chelsea Chronopoulos (Tyngsborough, Mass.) made the stick-stop before passing to junior Sophie Watt (Sawtell, Australia), who dished to Fiedtkou on the left side of circle for the goal.
 
With 5:28 to play in the half, the Black Bears answered, converting on a direct corner off the stick of Holly Stewart, knotting the score at 1-1 heading into the break.
 
Coming out of halftime, UMass Lowell successfully killed a player-down situation due to a green card. After several minutes of back-and-forth action without a shot on goal for either side, Stewart broke free from the pack and dribbled into the circle alone on a breakaway before getting tripped up by Federico to draw a penalty stroke. Annabelle Hamilton took the stroke for her squad, finding the lower left corner of the cage to put Maine on top, 2-1, with 25 minutes remaining.
 
The River Hawks continued to pressure and sophomore Georgia Cowderoy (Ashmore, Queensland, Australia) fired a hard shot on target, but it was batted away by the Maine keeper. UMass Lowell had a four-minute, man-advantage thanks to back-to-back cards on the Black Bears, although the home squad was unable to capitalize. The River Hawks continued to pressure in the final minutes of play without finding the back of the cage, as Maine held on to take the closely-contested, 2-1 decision. 
 
Friday's contest marked the eighth meeting between UMass Lowell and Maine in the sport of field hockey. The Black Bears now own a 6-1-1 lead in the all-time series. The River Hawks continue their four-game homestand on Sunday, October 19, when the squad welcomes Dartmouth College of the Ivy League to Wicked Blue Field for a 1 p.m. tilt.