PHILADELPHIA—Despite an early strike off the foot of sophomore Calliste Brookshire (Kingston, Mass.), the UMass Lowell women's soccer (3-3-1) team fell 3-1 against Drexel (4-1-1) in their final non-conference tilt Sunday afternoon.
 
Battling against a strong Dragons defense, freshman Ioanna Papatheodorou (Nea Erithraia, Greece) was able to fire off a pair of shots to lead the River Hawks, with one getting on target. Junior Anna Edson (Beverly, Mass.) and sophomore Marissa Saucedo (Ventura, Calif.) also had solid chances of their own, registering a shot on goal each.
 
In her first appearance of the season, senior Farrell O'Shaughnessy (Bedford, Mass.) commanded the River Hawk defense with a strong second-half presence, finishing with seven saves on the day. O'Shaughnessy and the UMass Lowell backline were heavily tested by the Dragons, staving off 25 shots by the host team.
 
"We finished our non-conference slate with a loss at Drexel. We picked a strong team to finish this non-conference schedule," said Head Coach Mira Novak following the road contest. "We're really happy with the start we had. We were able to get up a goal early. Unfortunately, we stalled there, and we didn't create enough on attack."
 
Gaining the early offensive advantage, Brookshire wasted no time getting the River Hawks on the board. Receiving the through ball, the forward evaded Drexel's goalkeeper Miyuki Schoyen to net UMass Lowell's lone goal of the day in the second minute.
 
The Dragons were able to level the score in the 24th minute, however, when Lauren Currey sent one past the defense off the free kick. Drexel took the lead 15 minutes later off a turnover at midfield, sending the River Hawks back to the locker room down 2-1.
 
Hoping to get the River Hawks back in the game, sophomore Rakel Stefansdottir (Hauganes, Iceland), freshman Lærke Niklasson (Roskilde, Denmark) and Papatheodorou each fired off shots in the second frame but were unable to convert on their attempts. Despite O'Shaughnessy's impressive second half effort, the River Hawks comeback attempt was stifled by a Drexel goal in the 80th minute to finalize the 3-1 outcome.
 
"[The game] showed us that if we want to be the team who wins America east, that we still have some work to do," remarked Novak.
 
The River Hawks look to bounce back into the win column on Sunday, Sept. 19, when they open conference play against NJIT at 2 p.m.