Burlington, Vt. – A late-game goal propelled the UMass Lowell women's soccer team (6-7-4, 4-2-1) to a 2-1 win at Vermont (6-8-3, 4-3-1 AE) on Thursday evening. With the victory, the River Hawks secured their first-ever bid to the America East tournament.
 
"I think it must have been one of our best games all season," said interim head coach Mira Novak. "I think the way we controlled possession today and had composure in the attacking third, I was really happy with that…I'm really happy for the team. They worked so hard for this."
 
Lily Fabian (Monson, Mass.) scored her fourth career goal just five minutes into the game from atop the box. Kristina Bartsch (Pulheim, Germany) took the corner, and Fabian gathered control, sending the ball into the right side of the net past the diving Vermont goalkeeper.
 
Vermont managed to tie it up in the 18^th minute with a goal by Alyssa Oviedo, and despite UMass Lowell outshooting the Catamounts 10-5 in the first half, the teams headed into halftime knotted up at 1.
 
The second half featured extensive midfield action with neither team making it on to the scoreboard until the 87^th minute, when Angelina Joyce (Braintree, Mass.) scored her first collegiate goal. Joyce snagged a rebound after a Rachel Morrier (Plaistow, N.H.) free kick and sent it in to put the River Hawks in the 2-1 lead.
 
UMass Lowell held on for the remaining minutes and secured the victory and the postseason bid.
 
"It's huge for us," Novak added. "It's something we've worked for in the last couple years, since I've been here…There were a lot of lessons that we had to learn along the way, but we're getting better every game, and the way that this team is evolving is a pleasure to watch as a coach and as a staff."
 
UMass Lowell outshot Vermont 18-10, with seven shots by Morrier and four by Fabian. The team remains undefeated when scoring first this season.
 
The River Hawks wrap up their regular season schedule with a tilt against Stony Brook on Sunday at 4 p.m. at Cushing Field. The team will be celebrating Senior Day, Alumni Day and Team IMPACT Day.