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ALBANY, N.Y. – The UMass Lowell field hockey team (4-7, 0-1 AE) dropped a 5-0 decision at the University of Albany (9-2, 1-0 AE) in the squads' America East Conference opener on Saturday afternoon in Albany.
 
"We played a great first half and executed our game plan against a top-10, nationally ranked team," said Head Coach Shannon Hlebichuk. "We had some great individual performances today. In the second half, we had a tough, six-minute stretch where Albany put the game out of reach, but after the timeout, we collected ourselves and finished off the last 20 minutes with a lot of character. We will build off this game and what we did well, so we are ready for Vermont next weekend."
 
Freshman goalkeeper Kelsey Federico (Windham, N.H.) tallied a career-high 12 saves, while junior Kelly Freitas (Manchester, N.H.) notched the River Hawks' lone shot of the day in the second half of the outing.
 
The Great Danes took an early lead just over six minutes into play, as Pahila Arnold scored off of a rebound during a penalty corner. The home squad would then extend its margin with 10 minutes to go in the first half on another corner opportunity, this time when Arnold and Laura Page set up Paula Heuser for the shot on target, giving UAlbany a 2-0 edge at the break.
 
UAlbany slotted home three more goals in the second half of action to secure the 5-0 win.
 
Saturday's contest marked the sixth meeting between UMass Lowell and UAlbany in the sport of field hockey, as the Great Danes own a 6-0 mark in the all-time series.
 
The River Hawks will return to action on Friday, October 10 when the team travels to the University of Vermont for a 3 p.m. tilt.