ALBANY, N.Y. -- A late second-half goal by Alejandro Osorio (Hollywood, Fla.) pushed the No. 5 UMass Lowell men's soccer team into the America East Semifinals with a 1-0 victory against four-seeded UAlbany Saturday afternoon.
 
"I thought it was a great performance," stated head coach Christian Figueroa. "It was tough on the road facing such a strong team, but we sustained pressure in the first half with the help of  back line and the keeper coming up big with some solid saves."
 
In a rematch of the 2018 semifinals, the River Hawks (9-7-1) will travel to Wildcat Stadium to take on New Hampshire on Wednesday, November 13. The Wildcats earned the number one seed and a first-round bye in the tournament and defeated UMass Lowell earlier this season, 4-0, on October 19.
 
The Great Danes struck early, recording the first shot of the match when Austin DaSilva received a cross-pass off a throw in, only to have sophomore goaltender Patrik Gujic (Bjelovar, Croatia) make a diving save to keep UAlbany from taking an early lead.
 
After a scoreless first half, the River Hawks saw their chance when Osorio took off down the right line, dribbling past the Great Danes defense and puhing the ball into the lower left corner of the net, bringing the score to 1-0.
 
Facing nine shots on goal, Gujic recorded his sixth shutout of the season in the victory.
 
"Having two games in four days is going to be difficult, commented Figueroa. "We need to take the next few days to recover and watch some video in order to be prepared for Wednesday's matchup."