LOWELL, Mass. -- The UMass Lowell women's lacrosse team (0-1) fell, 14-10, in a hard fought battle against Boston University (1-1) on Wednesday afternoon at Wicked Blue Field. Junior goalkeeper Renee Gonzalez (Long Valley, N.J.) stopped 14 shots in her first career start, while Kendyl Finelli (Southborough, Mass.) led the way offensively with two goals and two assists for four points and Taylor Sokol (Hopkinton, Mass.) earned herself a hat trick in the loss.

"We've got two goalies who are ready to help lead our defensive unit, which is a place that we haven't usually been in the past couple of years," explained Women's Lacrosse Head Coach Carissa Medeiros. "Our depth on offense is something that we pride ourselves on."

In a game of runs, key saves and late goal heroics from the Terriers sealed the victory late against the team in white.

Finelli opened the scoring with the first goal of the season for the home squad just four minutes into the game thanks to a pass from across the front of the net from Jane Dudley (Duxbury, Mass.).

The Terriers tied it up just two minutes later off a goal from Avery Donahoe thanks to a nice, quick pass from her teammate Kailey Conry. 

It became a defensive stalemate for the next 10 minutes until BU took the lead on a goal from Bridget McCarthy.

The River Hawks tied it back up less than two minutes later when Dudley scored on a nice pass from Austin Trasatti (Doylestown, Pa.).

BU took the lead for good at the 9:43 mark in the first thanks to a man-up goal on a free position shot from Avery Donahoe.

Going into the half, the Terriers led the River Hawks 7-5.

The Terriers scored the first three goals of the second half before sophomore Hana Caster (North Attleboro, Mass.) cooled the BU run with just under 23 minutes remaining in the second. 

Sokol recorded her first hat trick of the season at the 16:35 mark of the second off a feed from Caster.

Less than a minute later, UMass Lowell took advantage of a man-up situation as Austin Trasatti (Doylestown, Pa.) would score off a free position shot to make the score 10-8 with 15:46 remaining.

The two teams would each trade two goal runs over the next 10 minutes to make it a 12-10 game with just under seven minutes remaining in regulation, but late saves by BU's Bianca Smith and two late goals from two different terriers would seal the BU victory.

The River Hawks return to action on Sunday for a 12 p.m. opening draw against California at Wicked Blue Field.