LOWELL, Mass. -- The UMass Lowell women's soccer team ended in a 2-2 offensive battle against Massachusetts on Thursday night at Cushing Field. With the tie, the River Hawks are now 0-2-1 overall, while the Minutewomen are 1-1-1.
 
"I think it was up and down today," commented Head Coach Mira Novak. "Both teams had a lot of chances to win it. Our start was really good in terms of scoring an early goal, which is something we've wanted to do in order to control the play early on."
 
The River Hawks were able to strike first, less than five minutes into the game, when sophomore Lily Fabian (Monson, Mass.) sent a pass down the line to co-captain Veronica Morrier (Plaistow, N.H.) who was able to blast a shot into the bottom right corner of the net.
 
The Minutewomen put up a strong counterattack, when Jenny Hipp sent a pass to Lauren Bonavita from 20 yards out, who was able to rip the ball into the bottom right corner of the net, equalizing the score 1-1.
 
Ten minutes later, Massachusetts increased their lead to 2-1 off a corner kick, when Olivia Gouldsbury fought through a scuffle in front of the net, in order to push the ball into the bottom right corner of the net.
 
Coming into the second half, the River Hawks looked to equalize the score, when the ball deflected off of redshirt-sophomore Karah Fleet (Halifax, Nova Scotia), to sophomore midfielder Emily Nelson (Peabody, Mass.) who was able to tap the ball into the open net, bringing the score to 2-2.
 
"Going into the locker room at half time, down 2-1, we were able to make a few adjustments," stated Novak. "The players really wanted to come back in the second half, so I give them a lot of credit for pushing and putting themselves in a positive position."
 
After a hard-fought double overtime battle, neither of the two teams were able to come out on top, leaving the score in a 2-2 draw.
 
To mark a four-game streak on the road, the River Hawks will take on Brown at Stevenson-Pincince Field on Sunday, Sept. 1 at 11 a.m., before traveling to Providence (Sept. 5), Quinnipiac (Sept. 11) and Harvard (Sept. 18). The next time the River Hawks will see home action will be on Saturday Sept. 21 when they take on UCONN for Coach Appreciation Night.