Box Score (PDF)

LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell field hockey team (7-8, 1-3 AE) pulled within one early in the second half, but would eventually face a 3-1 setback against America East newcomer, No. 21 Monmouth (11-4, 4-0 AE) on Friday evening at Wicked Blue Field.
 
"I was really happy with our team's performance," said Head Coach Shannon Hlebichuk. "I thought we played great hockey in quarters two, three and four. We showed a lot of grit, a great work rate and great skill. We played hockey that I was really impressed and proud of. It's unfortunate that the scoreboard doesn't reflect the game that I think we played, but I'm really happy with our performance overall."
 
The visitors attacked right from the start, tallying a pair of goals in the first eight minutes of play. Monmouth first broke open the scoring in the fourth minute when Yasmin Pratt set up inside the circle and was able to tip a long pass from Aylin Aufenacker up over the outstretched stick of senior goalkeeper Eva Berkhout (Amersfoort, Utrecht, Netherlands). Then, less than five minutes later, Annick van Lange converted on a corner opportunity to make it 2-0.
 
Neither side was able to change the scoreboard in the second quarter, as Berkhout made a pair of saves to keep the margin at 2-0 heading into the break.
 
The River Hawks changed the momentum in the third quarter, matching Monmouth in shots, 3-3, and cutting the difference half in the 38th minute. On that play, senior Brooke Roberts (Medway, Mass.) sent a ball into the circle and under a defender's stick before junior Clara Defourt (Brussels, Belgium) turned and fired a backhand shot on cage to put her team within reach at 2-1.
 
UMass Lowell continued to fight in the fourth quarter and had a good corner chance in the 54th minute, but it was thwarted by the visiting goalkeeper. Monmouth then tallied an empty-net goal on a corner after the horn to take the 3-1 outcome.
 
Friday's contest marked the first meeting between the two schools in the sport of field hockey. The River Hawks will return to action on Tuesday, October 29 when they host UMass Amherst for the 2019 Kennedy Cup game at 6 p.m.