CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The UMass Lowell women's soccer team (1-5-1) fell short to Harvard (5-2-0) on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at Jordan Field in a 4-1 loss. Sophomore Emily Nelson (Peabody, Mass.) was the lone River Hawk to score in the matchup.
 
"We tried some new things today," stated head coach Mira Novak. "I think some things worked and a few things didn't. I'm very happy that we went one-nil up early on, with the first half being solid for us. I think we crumbled a little bit in the second half with some of the mistakes we created, and we got punished for them. Next, we'll continue working on getting better in the boxes in preparation for Saturday."
 
 
Things looked promising for the squad as the River Hawks opened the scoring only seven minutes into the game. UMass Lowell was awarded a penalty kick after a foul was called on Harvard, bringing Nelson to the line. Nelson ripped a shot into the center of the net as the keeper dove left, bringing the score to 1-0.  
 
Harvard followed suit in the 25th minute, when Gaby DelPico sent a cross pass to Angela Caloia who was able to send a one-timer into the bottom left corner of the net, equalizing the score 1-1.
 
UMass Lowell lead the first half in shots 6-4, while redshirt-junior Lauren Huff (Brandon, Fla.) made two saves and Hannah Gardner tallied three.
 
Heading into the second half, the River Hawks looked to take the lead in the 46th minute when sophomore Lily Fabian (Monson, Mass.) nicked the ball from the Harvard defense and drilled a shot from 15 yards out, just missing the bottom right corner of the net.
 
Next to strike was Harvard in the 54th minute, as the River Hawks were called for a foul 30 yards out giving the Crimson a free kick. Lara Schenk, off a set piece, sent the ball flying into the bottom right corner of the net, bringing the score to 2-1.
 
Not even a minute later, the Crimson increased their lead to 3-1 when Jordan Di Vernier snuck past Huff to push the ball into the lower left corner of the net, increasing their lead 3-1.
 
In the 67th minute Harvard was able to up their lead when the River Hawks were called for a handball giving the Crimson a penalty kick opportunity. Sophie Hurst was able to convert for Harvard bringing the final score to 4-1.
 
Up next, the River Hawks will return home to face off against UConn in a 7 p.m. game time. Following their tilt with the Huskies, the River Hawks will see their first bit of conference action when they take on the Hartford Hawks on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 4 p.m., for a Youth Day celebration.

"It's the last nonconference game for us, so I want to make sure we are developing the partnerships we've been working on and be a more versatile team," commented Novak. "I think today as much as the result didn't go our way, it was another step in trying new things and figuring out where we are at."