LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell men's soccer team (6-4-1, 2-1-0) held on for a, 3-2, America East victory against the visiting UMBC Retrievers (6-3-3, 1-1-1) on Wednesday night.
The hosts built up a 3-0 lead after 52 minutes, but saw the Retrievers get within one score and have numerous attempts in the final minutes to equalize as the River Hawks stood strong in the win.
"I thought it was a good overall performance for the majority of game, and going up 3-0 early in the second half was great for the guys to show their focus," remarked Head Coach
Christian Figueroa. "It was unfortunate to allow two goals late in the game and give UMBC some life, but our team did well to deal with it and get the win."
Austin Kroll (Baltimore, Md.) picked up his 32nd career win as the River Hawks extended their home unbeaten streak to 14 games, the second-longest in program history.
The River Hawks broke onto the scoreboard in the 36th minute on a knuckle ball shot from 35 yards out off the foot of
Dario Jovanovski (Zagreb, Croatia). The ball started off towards the Retriever keeper, then broke to the right to freeze Ciaran O'Loughlin and give UMass Lowell the lead.
Jacob Fitzgerald (Pepperell, Mass.) added his first goal since 2015 four minutes later to double the advantage, after collecting a cross from
Duran Lee (Brampton, Ontario) in the box and firing it into the left side of the net.
Despite the lead after 45 minutes, the River Hawks were outshot, 10-7, by the visitors, as Kroll made the only two saves of contest.
In the second half, UMass Lowell didn't wait to add another to the total as
Alejandro Osorio (Hollywood, Fla.) flicked a floating header under the crossbar to put the River Hawks on top, 3-0, in the 51st minute.
UMBC got one back 12 minutes later on a Sammy Kahsai bouncer from outside the 18-yard box. Kyle Saunderson headed in the Retrievers final score in the 78th minute. The visitors racked up another 10 shots in the second half to finish with a 20-13 advantage.
UMass Lowell looks for its third straight conference win with a road matchup at Vermont on October 14. Kick off is set for 7 p.m.
