Box Score (PDF)

NEWTON, Mass. – The UMass Lowell field hockey team traveled to Boston College of the Atlantic Coast Conference for a pre-season exhibition match on Sunday afternoon.
 
Although the Eagles earned the 3-0 decision, the game was closely-contested and the statistics for both sides were evenly matched. BC took a slight, 20-17 shot advantage in the outing.
 
"Overall defensively, we played as well as we could have," said Head Coach Shannon Hlebichuk. "BC did a great job attacking and I thought our defense stayed poised. Our attack is something that we've talked about and need to work on. We had a lot of opportunities and just didn't finish some things that I thought we could have."
 
Sophomore Christa Doiron (Worcester, Mass.) tallied a game-high eight shots, including six on goal. Senior Sophie Watt (Sawtell, Australia), junior Eleonore Agneessens (Brussels, Belgium) and freshman Torrie Huk (Milford, Del.) added three apiece, as well. UMass Lowell's goalkeepers, sophomore starter Kelsey Federico (Windham, N.H.) and junior Averill Erdody (Milford, N.H.), combined for 10 saves on the day.
 
The River Hawks' defense settled in quickly in the early minutes of the contest, turning away four shots and ending two corners in the first 15 minutes of play to keep the Eagles scoreless.
 
Boston College was able to convert on its third corner attempt, though, as Lucy Lytle stopped the ball at the top of the circle and set up teammate Eryn McCoy with a short pass for the shot on goal with 16 minutes remaining in the first half. The home squad then made it a 2-0 game just over two minutes later on a shot by Alesandra Miller that found the far left corner of the cage.
 
UMass Lowell's offense gained momentum late in the half. The squad earned a corner with just over 3:30 to go, allowing Huk and Agneessens to put the opposing keeper to work. On the next time down the field, Doiron received a pass from outside the circle and took a sweeping shot that skidded just wide of the cage. Federico made a kick save in final seconds of the period to keep the score 2-0 heading into the break.
 
The River Hawks continued to pressure with four shots on their first possession of the second half, including one from Agneessens that ricocheted off the post. Doiron added another hard shot on target at 31:30, but a sliding save by BC's Audra Hampsch kept the visitors' off the board.
 
Brittany Sheehan collected the ball with 24 minutes to play and dribbled down the field to score on a breakaway, giving the home squad the 3-0 margin of victory.
 
The River Hawks are scheduled to open the 2015 season on Friday, August 28 when they host Quinnipiac University beginning at 1 p.m.