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LOWELL, Mass. –  One goal proved to be enough for a team that had been in a scoring drought as the UMass Lowell women's soccer team defeated St. Bonaventure, 1-0, in a non-conference match, on a warm and muggy Sunday afternoon at the Cushing Field Complex.

Sophomore Taylor Chianese (Chepachet, R.I.) got the game's only goal and senior goalkeeper Jill Carlson (Lexington, Mass.) made it stand up as the River Hawks snapped a five game losing streak.  UMass Lowell improves to 3-6-0.  St. Bonaventure, a member of the Atlantic-10 Conference drops to 4-5-1.

"It's always good to get a 'W'," said UMass Lowell Head Coach Joel Bancroft.  "We were good on 50-50 balls and we carried the play in some stretches and we chased the ball in others."

The River Hawks jumped on the board first in the 20th minute of play.  Sophomore Taylor Chianese (Chepachet, R.I.) was on the receiving end of a perfect pass from freshman Shannon Groffie (Toms River, N.J.) and neatly deposited the ball in the upper left hand corner of the net. 

"We've been working on combination play, our final ball," said Bancroft.  "We want a more organized idea of what we hope to accomplish and we executed that."

It was Chianese's third goal of the season and the first for the River Hawks in more than 451 minutes of play.

"Taylor is very composed when she has the ball, her strike rate is very high," said Bancroft.  "She does a very good job of shaping the goal.  She strikes a real confident ball, she doesn't make it more difficult than it should be."

Once the River Hawks had the lead, the job of protecting it fell on the shoulders of Carlson.  Carlson made six saves, some of them spectacular, but was quick to credit others.

"Great defense starts with the forwards putting pressure of their back line and then the midfielders and so," said Carlson.  "Everybody makes the next person's job easier.  Defending starts at the top and trickles down.

A couple of golden scoring opportunities did "trickle down," but Carlson shut the door tight with point blank saves on a shot off the toe of Gabrielle Balseca and then, moments later, Abby Maiello late in the second half.

"When you step on the field, you have a job to do," said Carlson.  "You just have to take it play by play.  You can't focus on one thing.  If you make a great save; it's done; it's over; you have to move on to whatever is next."

The shutout was Carlson's second of the season and the seventh of her career.  St. Bonaventure had a statistical edge except on the scoreboard.  the Bonnies outshot UMass Lowell, 19-12 overall and 8-3 on target.   The visitors also had a 5-3 edge in corner kicks.

The River Hawks have a week off before returning to action.  UMass Lowell will host Stony Brook University Sunday afternoon, September 28, at the Cushing Field Complex in what is the America East Conference opener for both schools.