Box Score (PDF) | Highlights | Bancroft Interview | Luke Interview

LOWELL, Mass. – Forward Jaymee Luke (Las Vegas, Nev.) scored her first career goal as a River Hawk, in the 90th minute, to help lift the UMass Lowell women's soccer team to a 1-0 victory against the 2015 America East Champions UAlbany Great Danes (3-7-0) on Sunday Evening.
 
With the win, the River Hawks improve to 3-4-2 over all and 1-0-0 in America East play, winning their first conference opener since 2014.
 
"I think when the schedule comes out at the beginning of the year, you know you are going to have a test coming right out of the gate and we did," explained Head Coach Joel Bancroft. "That is a real good UAlbany club and credit to our kids today. I know coming off that west coast trip, where the speed of play was accelerated, it caused the ladies to solve problems at a faster clip. Ultimately, that allowed them to ease themselves into today's match."
 
After a Great Dane deflection out of bounds, midfielder Laura Gagnon (Millville, Mass.) settled a throw in at her feet, later sending a through pass to Luke in the right hand corner of the field. Luke created a shooting lane between her and the defender, curving a shot high over the goalkeeper's hand and into the top left hand corner of the net, with 32 seconds remaining.
 
In the opening half, UMass Lowell applied the pressure in the opening minutes and midfielder Shannon Groffie (Toms River, N.J.) cut through the defense to send a one timer from forward Katelyn Vieira (Warwick, R.I.) into the hands of goalkeeper Chloe Borasky.
 
In the first 45 minutes of plat, home team outshot the visitors by a hefty, 11-6, margin, including putting four on target. Midfielder Elle Cooper (Hastings, Minn.) created a handful of opportunities for her unit, as the freshman sent multiple crosses into the box ultimately resulting in another shot for the squad.
 
Midfielder Maddie Walsh (Acton, Mass.) had a chance to net her first career goal in the 79th minute. Forward Natalia Retynisdottir (Kopavogur, Iceland) fed Walsh a pass to her right foot where she blasted a shot from 20 yards out that was stopped by the hands of Borasky.
 
Goalkeeper Julia Schneider (Bridgewater, Mass.) tallied six saves in route to her second win and shutout of the 2016 season. Her counterpart, Borasky, picked up seven saves in net.
 
UMass Lowell is back in action at home, as the club entertains Maine on Thursday, September 29, for their second tilt in America East action.