LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell men's soccer team (1-6-1, 1-4-1 AE) netted two goals in the final 20 minutes of regulation to earn an exciting, 2-1 victory against Stony Brook (1-6-1, 1-4-1 AE) in comeback fashion on Senior Day.  
 
"I thought this was a good response from the guys," said Head Coach Christian Figueroa. "Coming out of halftime nil-nil and giving up an early goal, I thought the guys responded really well to take control of the game. We possessed in our half a lot more in the second and put Stony Brook under a lot of pressure."
 
The team's lone graduating senior, Abdi Shariff-Hassan (Lewiston, Maine) recorded his first career goal in the Senior Day outing, while sophomore Sancho Maroto Tobias (Alcobendas, Madrid) would tally the game-winner.
 
Sophomore goalkeeper Jacob Heihsel (Holliston, Mass.) totaled two saves in net to earn the team's first win of the year.
 
Neither side was able to take an advantage in the first half, trading two shots apiece. However, the River Hawks did threaten in the 34th minute, as sophomore Alessandro Marongiu (Villa San Pietro, Italy) drove a hard ball on a breakaway that sailed just wide. Senior Daniel Orrego (Revere, Mass.) followed with a laser off a corner kick that also missed just right, sending the teams into the break even at 0-0.  
 
The Seawolves quickly took the upper hand in the second, when Kori Cupid controlled a bouncing pass before firing to the far lower corner to give his team the 1-0 edge in the 48th minute.
 
The River Hawks turned up the pressure and would go onto outshoot the visitors, 9-6, in the second half. In the 72nd minute, Shariff-Hassan erased the difference by converting on a penalty shot attempt.
 
Then with less than three minutes to play in regulation, Orrego dished a short pass to Maroto Tobias, who launched a shot from well outside the box, up and just under the crossbar.
 
The decision wraps up the shortened, regular season for the River Hawks this spring.
 
"It was obviously a difficult year for everybody, not being able to get out and train in the fall," concluded Figueroa. "It was difficult to start in January and obviously a lot of obstacles along the way, but the progress over the last couple of weeks has been evident and we just want to hope for a little bit more normalcy heading into the summer, so that we can get back into it come August."