LOWELL, Mass. – Senior Hannah Keefe tallied a pair of goals to help propel the UMass Lowell field hockey team (6-3) to a 3-1 victory against Sacred Heart (1-7) in a non-conference tilt on Sunday afternoon.
 
"We did a good job managing a very physical Sacred Heart team," said Head Coach Shannon LeBlanc. "It's always a battle. I was impressed with our ability to stay composed and create a tremendous amount of scoring opportunities."
 
Keefe's two goals marked a personal-best for the forward. Junior Berbel Rozema (Rotterdam, Netherlands) added the team's other goal in the contest and sophomore Eleonore Boekhorst (Bilthoven, Netherlands) recorded two saves for her sixth win of the season, as well.
 
Sacred Heart earned the first corner of the day in the opening minutes and made a pass towards the wing, but Boekhorst came out of the cage to kick the ball out of play before the Pioneers had a chance to get a shot off.
 
Junior Megan Salsinha (Westport, Mass.) put the River Hawks' first shot on target in the ninth minute from the far side and freshman Valerie Crory (Littleton, Mass.) sent one off the pads of Erin Burgess in the 14^th.
 
The River Hawks were able to break open the scoring in 23^rd minute when they had a two-on-one advantage heading into the circle that saw junior Kate Miller (Cherry Hill, N.J. send a short pass ahead to Keefe, who finished with a sliding tip in.
 
The Pioneers turned up the pressure with three consecutive corners, and although the defensive unit extinguished those opportunities, Isabell Chamberlain erased the difference on a reverse-stick chip in the 27^th minute to send the teams into the break even at 1-1.
 
The home team dominated possession in the third with five corners and seven shots, but the game would remained tied until the 47^th minute when Rozema dribbled into the circle alone and fired a reverse-stick shot into the lower right corner.
 
UMass Lowell then added an insurance goal in the 54^th minute, as Keefe redirected a pass from sophomore Mirthe Gans (Tiel, Netherlands) during a corner.
 
Up next, the River Hawks will head to Monmouth on Friday, October 8 for a 2 p.m. tilt.