LOWELL, Mass. -- Ivan Abramovic (Zagreb, Croatia) broke the scoreless tie with his strike from the penalty spot in the 78th minute, as the UMass Lowell men's soccer team took care of business on Senior Night and defeated Hartford, 1-0, on Wednesday night.

With the win and other results around the conference, the River Hawks (9-5-2, 4-3-0) secured the number three seed in the America East Championship. In a rematch of last season's title game, UAlbany will make the trek to Lowell on Saturday, November 3 for the 4 p.m. kickoff. 

"It was a good performance from the guys as Hartford did a good job staying compact and making it hard for us to create chances," remarked Head Coach Christian Figueroa. "We did a good job staying patient and were able to create some good chances. Sometimes you need a call like that in your favor to get the goal on the board and open things up."

Leading up to Abramovic's tally, Abdi Shariff-Hassan (Lewiston, Maine) did a good job applying pressure in the box and was dragged down to earn the penalty kick. The senior stepped up to the ball and deposited the shot into the left corner, as the Hawks' (1-10-5, 1-4-1) Jimmy Slayton dove to the right.

UMass Lowell's back line did not surrender a shot on target, as Hartford was held just to two attempts in the contest. The River Hawks tacked on 13, including seven in the second half, and were able to put four on net. Carter Hochman (Lexington, Mass.) made his first career start between the pipes, while Zach Rowell (Haverhill, Mass.) came in relief and picked up his eighth win of 2018.

Ivan Blaskic (Zagreb, Croatia) had the best opportunity before the score, as he came within inches of giving the hosts the lead in the 60^th minute but his one-timed poke just went high above the crossbar.

For more information on Saturday's quarterfinal contest, check out www.goriverhawks.com.