LOWELL, Mass – The UMass Lowell women's soccer team notched their second America East victory of the season as they battled the UMBC Retrievers to a 4-1 finish at Cushing Field on Sunday afternoon. Freshman Stephanie Kemp (Mansfield, Mass.) recorded her first collegiate hat-trick in the take down.
 
"This was definitely a good win for us tonight, "stated head coach Mira Novak. "I give credit to the team for coming together and setting themselves up in good positions."
 
The River Hawks looked to repeat Thursday's win when sophomore Kristin Birgisdottir (Mosfellsbaer, Iceland) sent a cross pass in the ninth minute of the game to fellow classmate Kristina Bartsch (Pulheim, Germany) who tapped the ball into the center of the net.
 
Notching the first goal of her career in the 30th minute, Kemp received a pass down the center of the field from freshman Cristina Blaya (Madrid, Spain.), she then ripped the ball from 15 yards out into the top left corner of the net, increasing the River Hawks lead to 2-0.
 
Only seven minutes later, Kemp struck again in the same fashion with a pass down the line from Birgisdottir, increasing the deficit 3-0.
 
At the half, the River Hawks outshot the Retrievers 10-1, with graduate student Annerens Tijm (Tjerkgaast, Netherlands) making one save compared to UMBC's Jade Wilkins with five.
 
Heading into the second half the River Hawks looked to Kemp once again. In the 48th minute freshman Anna Edson (Beverly, Mass.) drew a foul from the Retrievers to give Kemp the penalty kick opportunity. Looking to add to her total, Kemp placed the ball into the back-left corner of the net, bringing the score to 4-0.
 
In a last-ditch effort by the Retrievers, Erin Stevenson recorded the lone goal for UMBC after she dribbled past the defense in the 72nd minute, but the River Hawks held onto their lead for the remaining 18 minutes, bringing the final score to 4-1.
 
The next time the River Hawks will see action will be on the road Sunday, Oct. 13 for a 1 p.m. matchup with the Stony Brook Seawolves.
 
"Stony Brook is probably the hottest team in the conference right now," commented Novak. "I think it will be a completely different challenge for us and that's something we'll need to prepare for going into next weekend."
 
"Stony Brook is probably the hottest team in the conference right now," commented Novak. "I think it will be a completely different challenge for us and that's something we'll need to prepare for going into next weekend."