LOWELL, Mass. – In their first appearance in the American East postseason, the #4 UMass Lowell women's soccer team (6-8-5, 4-3-1) has advanced to the semifinals after taking down #5 Vermont (6-8-4, 4-3-1 AE) in a dramatic penalty kick shootout. The River Hawks netted four PKs to Vermont's three in the quarterfinals on Thursday evening at Cushing Field and will now face #1 Stony Brook on Sunday.
"I think it was everything, from the first minute they went after it – they wanted to score, they wanted to win it," interim head coach
Mira Novak said. "Unfortunately, we couldn't win it in regulation, and it came all the way down to PKs, but I'm really proud of the team and how they responded today. There was a different energy about them today. They've worked so hard to get here to this point."
The River Hawks held complete control on the offensive end through regulation, notching 29 shots to the Catamounts' three and tallying a number of shots that nearly went in but hit the crossbar. However, for the seventh time this season, the River Hawks went to overtime – this time, though, a tie wasn't an option.
After 110 minutes of scoreless action, the teams were forced to resort to PKs.
Kristin Birgisdottir (Mosfellsbaer, Iceland),
Dunja Mostarac (Belgrade, Serbia),
Katelyn Vieira (Warwick, R.I.) and
Kristina Bartsch (Pulheim, Germany) each sunk their PKs, and
Julia Schneider (Bridgewater, Mass.) made a big save to help the River Hawks advance.
"Julia just turns into a different player in pressure situations, so she showed that today," Novak said. "The players taking the penalty kicks and having composure – they were confident that they would score, and obviously we did our part training and preparing for that, so I feel like they were ready for it."
The game resulted in a pair of broken records for the River Hawks – the team notched a program-record 35 shots and held the Catamounts to three shots, also a program-best.
Rachel Morrier (Plaistow, N.H.) attempted a career-high 13 shots while playing every minute of the game.
With the result, UMass Lowell has earned its way to the America East Semifinals and will head to Stony Brook to take on the Seawolves at noon on Sunday.
"We're excited – looking forward to it," Novak said. "We're ready."
