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LOWELL, Mass. – Seniors Emily Bracken (Bridgewater, Mass.) and Sarah Raye (Salem, Mass.) scored goals and a tenacious River Hawk defense made it stand up as UMass Lowell women's soccer defeated Siena College, 2-0, in a non-conference match, Sunday afternoon at the Cushing Field Complex.

"It feels great," said UMass Lowell Head Coach Joel Bancroft.  "It was a beautiful day, Siena's a good club and it was a hard fought win."

With the win, the River Hawks evened their record at 1-1-0, Siena fell to 0-2-0.

The win was also the first for Bancroft as a head coach.  It came in his second game holding the reins, but he downplayed the significance preferring to point at the importance for the team.

"It's special because, now, it's out of the way," said Bancroft.  "We're undefeated at home and we've talked about defending our home field.  Now, the pressure on the kids to get that 'W' is off."

It was UMass Lowell that applied the pressure.  Sunday's contest found the River Hawks pushing the attack, with numbers, far more often than they had in the opener two days previous.  It paid off in numerous opportunities.

"I thought we had more of an attack personality," said Bancroft.  "We were able to join in our attack far more pictures of us having four, five and six players in the box and that caused a lot of problems for Siena."

The increased offensive pressure paid off.  The River Hawks grabbed the lead in the 12th minute of play.  Senior Bracken placed a right foot drive from just inside the box over the goalkeeper and into the upper right corner of the net.  Freshman Shannon Groffie (Toms River, N.J.), who set the attack in motion with a pass to Bracken, picked up the lone assist. 

"The game plan was to make a lot of runs," said Bracken.  "I made a run to space and (Groffie) gave me a perfect ball, I saw the defender coming in from the right so I knew I had to get it off and put it up over the goalie.  It was more a lofted shot than a driven one."

With a 1-0 lead, the defense took over thwarting various Siena forays into the River Hawk end of the pitch.  It was an opportunity for the River Hawks to show their depth.  

"One of our strengths is our depth," said Bancroft.  "On a hot day like this we went seven or eight deep on our bench and (Siena) was not able to match us."

The two teams had combined for just 8 shots in the first half, they added 19 in the second 45-minute stanza.  Despite the increased offensive pressure, it remained a 1-0 game until late in the second half.

Raye provided the insurance goal in the 84th minute of play snapping a shot into the back of the net out of a scramble in the goal mouth.  Freshman Megan Rauseo (Methuen, Mass.) picked up an assist, it her pass that found Raye alone near the right post.  The scramble began after a bullet off the right foot of freshman Emily Duchesne (Hooksett, N.H.) banged off the cross bar.

River Hawk goalkeeper Jill Carlson (Lexington, Mass.) made six saves in picking up her sixth career shutout.  Siena keeper Taylor Booth made three saves.  UMass Lowell outshot Siena, 14-13.   

The River Hawks return to action Friday, August 29th at 7 P.M., when they visit Delaware State University.  UMass Lowell returns to the Cushing Field Complex Monday, September 1 at 4 P.M., for a match against Marist College.