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ALBANY, N.Y. – Despite taking its first lead with just over 13 minutes left to play, the UMass Lowell field hockey team (6-5, 1-3 AE) was unable to hold off No. 24 UAlbany (8-3, 2-1 AE) in a 4-3 battle on Friday afternoon.
 
The Great Danes scored two goals in the final seven minutes of regulation, including one from Ghislaine Beerkens in the 64th minute to complete her hat trick for the day and one from Frederike Helmke in the 67th to seal the outcome in favor of her squad.

"It was a great conference battle with a disappointing result," said Head Coach Shannon Hlebichuk. "We had the game within reach, but you can't make any mistakes against a top 25 team in the last 10 minutes and think you're going to get away with it. Albany is experienced in winning important games and that was the difference maker today."
 
Sophomore Clara Defourt (Brussels, Belgium) tallied a career-high two goals to lead the River Hawks' offense in the outing. Junior Anouk Lalande (Brussels, Belgium) added her 10th goal of the season, while senior Carleen O'Connell (Madison, N.J.), sophomore Katie Lynes (Oakville, Ontario) and freshman Grace Davis (Waterloo, Ontario) each recorded one assist apiece. Junior goalkeeper Eva Berkhout (Amersfoort, Utrecht, Netherlands) totaled eight saves on the day.
 
The Great Danes produced on an early corner to jump out to a 1-0 lead when Beerkens redirected a hard pass from Dana Bozek on target in just the third minute of action. However, the River Hawks quickly erased the difference on their first corner opportunity, as Defourt batted a bouncing rebound into the back of the cage in the 14th minute.
 
The home squad threatened to regain the upper hand before the break, but Berkhout made three saves late in the first to keep 1-1 stalemate intact. UAlbany would pull ahead, 2-1, in the 39th minute, thanks to Beerkens' second of the day, although the River Hawks answered once more, this time on a Davis-Lalande connection in the 45th minute that evened the board at 2-2.
 
UMass Lowell then took its first lead of the day in the 57th minute on a direct corner by Defourt before UAlbany came from behind to earn the decision.  
 
The Great Danes now own a 13-1 advantage in the all-time series. The River Hawks will spend the remainder of the weekend in New York, squaring off against Colgate on Sunday, October 7 at 1 p.m.