PROVIDENCE, R.I – The UMass Lowell women's soccer team fell to the Providence Friars 1-0, in a double overtime battle Thursday night at Chapey Field. With the loss the River Hawks fall to 0-4-1 overall, and the Friars improve to 3-2-0.
 
"I think it was our best game yet," stated Head Coach Mira Novak. "We played a complete performance over 100 plus minutes. Putting ourselves in a good position today, we were able to create and chances with everyone pulling in. I'm really proud of the performance of the whole team and how we stuck together."
 
In her second shot of the game, sophomore Emily Nelson (Peabody, Mass.) looked to get the River Hawks on the board when she ripped the ball from the top of the box, only to ricochet off the keeper's fingers and knock off the cross bar.
 
In the 29th minute, freshman Hildur Gunnarsdottir (Reykjavik, Iceland) attempted to capitalize off a corner kick, but was denied by the Friars defense, keeping the score at a 0-0 draw.
 
With less than 60 seconds in the first half, sophomore Krisitina Bartsch (Pulheim, Germany) was looking to strike when she drilled a shot from the top of the box from 18 yards out, but the shot tipped off the cross bar.
 
The River Hawks outshot the Friars 10-1, but there was nothing to show for the first half as neither teams were able to get on the board.
 
Coming into the second half, the Friars put on the pressure as they outshot the River Hawks 5-4.
 
In the 83rd minute, Providence's Hannah McNulty, tried to get the Friars on the board off a shot from 18 yards out, but graduate student Annerens Tijm (Tjerkgaast, Netherlands) made a diving save to bring the game into overtime.
 
After a scoreless overtime, the River Hawks rolled into another 10 minutes of play, hoping to put a final end to the game. Unfortunately, in the 103rd minute, Ava Brandt sent a pass in the box to McNulty who was able to capitalize off the defense and put the ball in the back of the net, bringing the final score to 1-0.

There are only two more road games for the River Hawks before returning to their home turf. Up next, the squad will travel to Quinnipiac on Wednesday, Sept. 11 for a 4 p.m. matchup, followed by a tilt with Harvard the following week (Sept. 18). The next time the squad will see home action will be on Saturday Sept. 21 when they take on UCONN for Coach Appreciation Night.
 
"We're definitely looking forward to wining the first game, and hopefully we can do it next week at Quinnipiac," commented Novak. "They took us to overtime on our home turf last year and unfortunately we didn't get the result we wanted. We're looking forward to the rematch and to play another tough out of conference team that will challenge us."