September 30 at UAlbany (7 p.m.) 
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Twitter: @RiverHawkMSoc @RiverHawkNation
 
LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell men's soccer team wraps up a three-game road swing and open the America East slate with a Saturday night match at UAlbany. The River Hawks have suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since 2015.

Leading the Flock
Jakov Basic (Zagreb, Croatia) (4g, 2a) sits atop the team in goals and total points (10), while Dario Jovanovski (Zagreb, Croatia)has six points (2g, 2a). Gui Rodrigues (Lowell, Mass.) leads the offense with three assists, as the River Hawks have 16 helpers on the year. Between the pipes, Austin Kroll (Baltimored, Md.) has allowed 12 goals on 85 shots, and has recorded 20 saves with a 1.42 goals against average.

A Helping Hand
The River Hawks rank second in the America East with their 16 assists and 2.00 assists per game, and rank in the top 20 in the country in helpers per game.  
 
Scouting UAlbany
The Great Danes (6-2-0) sit in second place in the America East standings and are riding a three-game winning streak. Afonso Pinheiro leads the squad with 14 points, coming from five goals and four assists. Daniel Krutzen sits atop the lineup with six helpers, as the two have combined for nearly 50 percent of UAlbany's total offense. Two goalkeepers have split time in net, each making four starts with Danny Vitiello posting a 3-0 record with a 0.49 GAA. 
 
Series History
The River Hawks are 2-6 all-time against the Great Danes, but each team has won two games in the DI era. UMass Lowell took last season's matchup, 1-0, in Lowell. 

Saving Space in the Records
Kroll now sits third all-time with 30 career wins and 19 career blank sheets. With 762:53 of total playing time this season, he sits fifth all-time with 5,275:04 minutes in a River Hawk uniform.
 
Home Sweet Home
The River Hawks are riding a 12-game unbeaten streak (9-0-3) in the Mill City over the last two seasons, and have posted a 18-7-4 home record since 2014. Since joining DI, UMass Lowell is 19-10-5 at Cushing Field.

Croatian Connection
All four Croatian players have recorded a point this season, combining for 25 of the team's 40 points. Basic's 10 points lead the group while Jovanovski has six, while Blaskic and Ivan Abramovic (Zagreb, Croatia) have five and four, respectively. 

And That Was Talking Soccer
For the first time since Sept. 19, 2016 the River Hawks did not crack the United Coaches Top 25. The team sits at No. 21 in the TopDrawer Soccer Top 25 and No. 29 in the College Soccer News Top 30.

Notables
Basic picked up his first career America East Player of the Week award (9.18) ... UMass Lowell has won three consecutive season openers for the first time since 1999-2002, when the team earned victories in four straight.