Box Score

ORONO, Maine – The UMass Lowell field hockey team (4-5, 0-1 AE) forced over 30 minutes of scoreless action, but fell, 1-0, in its America East Conference opener at Maine (2-7, 1-0 AE) on Friday afternoon.
 
"It was a tough conference battle today," said Head Coach Shannon Hlebichuk. "Maine brought their A-game and we didn't match it well. Our energy level wasn't what we expected as a team, which resulted in us not being as productive as we can be."
 
The first half was a defensive battle, as both sides applied pressure to limit the opponent's chances on offense. In the 22nd minute, the Black Bears threatened with a pair of shots, but senior goalkeeper Eva Berkhout (Amersfoort, Utrecht, Netherlands) came up with the stop to keep the game scoreless. The home team added four more shots in the period, although the River Hawk backline kept the 0-0 stalemate intact heading into the break.
 
Coming out of halftime, the Black Bears were able to break open the scoring in the 34th minute when they converted on a corner opportunity thanks to a tip on cage by Brianna Ricker.
 
To start the fourth quarter, Berkhout charged out of the cage to make a pair of saves and keep the difference at just one.
 
The River Hawks had their best offensive chance of the day in the 56th minute on a cleanly executed corner play, but the shot by freshman Sofie Knook (Amsterdam, Netherlands) slipped just wide, as Maine sealed the 1-0 outcome.   
 
The Black Bears lead the all-time series against UMass Lowell, 15-1-1. The River Hawks will return home to host Colgate on Sunday, October 6 beginning at 12 p.m.