BURLINGTON, Vt. – Despite sophomore Grace Hansen (Stamford, Conn.) tallying her first hat trick as a River Hawk, the UMass Lowell women's lacrosse team fell in their regular-season finale, narrowly slipping to Vermont 12-10 at Virtue Field.
 
Leading the offensive unit along with Hansen, classmate Izzy Liquori (Agawam, Mass.) put up three points, scoring two goals and one assist. Abby McLaughlin (Walpole, Mass.) and Samantha Blair (West Islip, N.Y.) landed two points with a goal and an assist. Rounding out the scoring, Megan Brockbank (Bayport, N.Y.), Molly Shaw (Marshfield, Mass.) and Alex Palermo (Reading, Mass.) each recorded one goal on the day, with Palermo scoring her first of the season.
 
On the defensive side of the ball, McLaughlin had an impressive outing, matching her game-high of three ground balls, while Shaw collected on two caused turnovers. Freshman Mackenzie Brown (Southington, Conn.) did all she could between the pipes, bringing in a career-high 12 saves on 28 total shots seen.
 
The Catamounts wasted no time in setting the tempo of Saturday's matinee, jumping out to an early 3-0 lead within the first seven minutes of competition. Both McLaughlin and Brockbank would make driving attempts during that time span, but Vermont's keeper Sophie McLaughlin was there with the key stoppage.
 
It wasn't until the 19 minute-mark when the River Hawks saw their spark, finding motivation from Hansen's first tally of the day as she went unassisted to chip away at the deficit, 3-1. Putting up back-to-back goals in the following minutes, the Catamounts would however, extend their buffer to 5-1.
 
UMass Lowell matched Vermont's runs in the final ten minutes of the first frame, coming within two goals on three different occasions, thanks to points by Liquori, Palermo and Hansen. Although, the Catamounts would capitalize on their 17-13 shot advantage and three free position opportunities over the initial 30 minutes to close out the first half with a 7-5 scoring advantage.  
 
Vermont continued to strike in the second, picking up the first two points and extending their margin to 9-5. Although, the River Hawks would chip away on three straight goals, including Hansen's third to get the closest they would all day at 9-8.
 
The River Hawks would see two more from Shaw and Blair over the final minutes, however the Catamounts final three tallies proved to be too much as the home team walked away with the 12-10 victory.
 
The decision wraps up the shortened, regular season for the River Hawks this spring.