October 8 at UMBC (2:30 p.m.)
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Twitter: @RiverHawkMSoc @RiverHawkNation
LOWELL, Mass. – The No. 22 UMass Lowell (7-0-2, 0-0-1) men's soccer team heads down to Maryland in search for its first conference win of the 2016 campaign, taking on UMBC (4-2-3, 0-1-0) at Retriever Soccer Park.
River Hawk Rewind
Wuilito Fernandes (Praia, Cape Verde) scored his seventh goal on the season to take a 1-0 lead against Binghamton in the 73rd minute, but the Bearcats countered with the equalizer with 27 seconds on the clock to pull out the tie in both teams' America East opener on Oct 1.
Ivan Abramovic (Zagreb, Croatia) and
Dario Jovanovski (Zagreb, Croatia) were credited with an assist, while
Austin Kroll (Baltimore, Md.) made four saves in the effort.
Leading the Flock
Fernandes leads the team with a career-high seven goals (14 points), while Abramovic has four goals and a team-high seven assists for 15 points.
Carlos Ruiz (East Boston, Mass) is third with two goals and second on the team with three helpers. Jovanovski and
Ivan Blaskic (Zagreb, Croatia) have two assists so far in their first season as River Hawks, with Blaskic adding a goal as well. In net, Kroll has allowed six goals on 83 shots, recording 23 saves and a goals against average of 0.62.
Scouting UMBC
The Retrievers were shutout, 3-0, by the New Hampshire Wildcats in their conference opener back on Sept 30, snapping their six-game unbeaten and three-game winning streaks. UMBC is led by freshman Tre Pulliam who has tallied four goals and one assist for nine points. Both Gregg Hauck and Jonathan Bell have dished out three assists to lead the team. Between the pipes, Billy Heavner has made 29 saves and allowed 12 goals for a GAA of 1.21 and a save percentage of .707 through nine games.
Series History
The River Hawks enter the matchup searching for their first win against UMBC, as the Retrievers hold a 3-0 series lead by outscoring UMass Lowell 5-1.
Road Warriors
UMass Lowell has been of the best road teams in the country this season, posting a perfect 4-0 mark away from Cushing Field. The four wins is the best mark since the 2012 squad won six contests in opponent's territory.
Election Season
For the third straight week the River Hawks found themselves in the NSCAA DI National Poll, taking the No. 22 spot and 23 in the College Soccer News Top 30 poll. The program moved up five spots to No. 20 in the nation's RPI. UMass Lowell is the lone unbeaten America East school, and the squad also finds itself the top-ranked squad in the East for the fourth consecutive week, according to the NSCAA Division I Regional Poll.
Playing From Ahead
Before succumbing the first goal against Brown, UMass Lowell had only trailed for 1:47 this season, coming in the first game of the season at Northeastern. From
Ben Waithe's (Plymouth, Mass.) game tying goal, the River Hawks went 452 consecutive minutes without trailing.
Saving Space in the Records
Kroll now sits fourth all-time with 22 career wins and 15 career blank sheets. With 875:26 of total playing time this season, he has moved into seventh all-time with 4,085:28 minutes in a River Hawk uniform.
And That Was Talking Soccer
Abramovic's game-winning goal from Sept. 4 earned a spot on SportsCenter's Top 10 list at number 4. The tally appeared on Fox Soccer and took home the Top Drawer Soccer Goal of the Week.
Notables
Fernandes was named the America East Player of the Week (9.12) ... Abramovic has taken home consecutive America East Rookie of the Week honors (8.29-9.6) … with five wins this season, Figueroa has reached 51 wins during his coaching career at UMass Lowell.
