LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell women's soccer team (5-1-1, 4-0-0 AE) celebrated senior day with their fifth straight win of the season, taking down America East opponent UMBC (1-3-1, 1-3-0 AE), 4-0, on Saturday afternoon at Cushing Field.
 
With the win, the River Hawks have secured their space amid the America East Division A standings to clinch a spot in the #AEWSOC Championship, being played at the top overall seed on April 15-17.
 
"Today was a very important win for us," commented Head Coach Mira Novak. "With it being our last home game, we wanted to finish out strong and that's exactly what we did. I'm very happy we were able to honor our seniors through hard work and a solid win."
 
Three different River Hawks found the back of the net in the second half to put the game away. Leading the charge for the Lowell attack, junior Lily Fabian (Monson, Mass.) and sophomore Stephanie Kemp (Mansfield, Mass.) each tallied a goal and an assist.
 
Sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Burgess (Mendon, Mass.) came up with six saves for her fifth shutout of the season.
 
After 20 minutes of back-and forth action, Fabian got things started when she sent a cross pass to the top of the box where junior captain Emily Nelson (Peabody, Mass.) stood waiting. Nelson faked past the Retriever defense, sending the ball through the arms of the keeper on a left-footed shot.
 
Fabian would give UMass Lowell a 2-0 lead in the 65th minute, this time scoring herself after an assist from Kemp. A third River Hawk tally would come just five minutes later after Kemp was awarded a penalty kick, slotting it inside the left post past a diving keeper.
 
Sophomore Gabrielle Weilding (Hopkinton, Mass.) capped the scoring in the 85th minute, on a ricocheted ball to sneak past the Retriever keeper yet again, to make it 4-0.
 
Weilding tallied her first collegiate goal, while Kemp recorded her first of the 2021 campaign.
 
Prior to the game Kristin Birgisdottir (Mosfelsbaer, Iceland), Abigail Drezek (Cumberland, R.I.), Giulia Rabbito (Chelmsford, Mass.) Courtney Coleman (Antioch, Illinois.) and Veronica Morrier (Plaistow, N.H.) were honored with a special Senior Day ceremony.
 
Up next, the River Hawks will head to Vermont as they close out the regular season on Saturday, April 10. Game time is set for 2 p.m. on Virtue Field.