LOWELL, Mass.—A lefty shot off the foot of sophomore Calliste Brookshire (Kingston, Mass.) clinched the 1-0 overtime victory for the UMass Lowell women's soccer team (5-3-1, 2-0 America East) over Binghamton (5-5-1, 1-1 AE) Sunday afternoon at Cushing Field.
 
Brookshire's golden goal came in the 99th minute to keep the River Hawks undefeated in conference action. The forward put up a team-high four shots, with two on target in today's contest. On defense, goaltender Lisa Sjögren (Skellefteå, Sweden) made four stops en route to her second consecutive shutout. The rookie now has three shutouts to her credit in just five games.  
 
"I think playing with Binghamton is extremely tough. They are a great team, very well organized. We struggled the last couple of years; They came here and beat us. For us, it was a game that we wanted to show that we could compete with them," said Head Coach Mira Novak. "They are one of the top two teams in the league right now, so we're really happy with the win. It was a game of very few chances. They had a few, we had a few. We were the luckier team at the end of it."
 
The River Hawks erupted on offense to kick off the afternoon tilt. Senior Lily Fabian (Monson, Mass.) was first on the attack, sending in a laser from distance towards the right side of the goal that ricocheted off the post to keep UMass Lowell scoreless.
 
The veteran attacker was quick to take another chance just seconds later. In the fourth minute, Fabian sent a pass to junior Emily Nelson (Peabody, Mass.), who booted it towards the bottom left corner, only to be swatted away by Binghamton goaltender Haylee Poltorak.
 
Continuing UMass Lowell's early offensive push, freshman Ioanna Papatheodorou (Nea Erithraia, Greece) took aim for the top-left nook. Poltorak was quick to shut down the rookie, however, knocking the ball down once again.  
 
The Bearcats responded midway through the period with a set of well-placed shots of their own in the 23rd and 24th minutes. Both attempts were thwarted thanks to the efforts of Sjögren and the stalwart River Hawk defense.
 
With the seconds winding down in the first frame, the UMass Lowell backline was tested once more. A straight ball from the Bearcats slipped through the hands of Sjögren, causing a scramble in front of the net. However, quick work by veteran defenders Hailey DuBose (Raynham, Mass.) and Dunja Mostarac (Belgrade, Serbia) quickly moved play out of bounds to keep the teams scoreless into the half.
 
An aggressive Bearcat offense forced itself into the River Hawks defensive zone for the better part of the second frame, putting four shots on goal to UMass Lowell's two. Binghamton put several close-range shots on target but was unable to sneak one past Sjögren.
 
UMass Lowell's first chance of the second half came in the 83rd minute, as freshman Lærke Niklasson (Roskilde, Denmark) ran up the right-side channel and sent in a crossed ball that just skidded by the left post.
 
With the threat of extra minutes looming, Mostarac received a long pass from senior Olivia Sandahl (Skövde, Sweden) off a freekick and sent a bicycle kick up and over in hopes of ending the stalemate. The impressive ball set for the top right corner, however, bounced off the post to send the teams into overtime.
 
A loose ball off the head of a Binghamton defender in the 99th minute put Brookshire in a perfect position to strike. Traveling to the left side of the box, the Massachusetts native fired the ball just high of Binghamton's netminder and into the right pocket to earn the 1-0 win for the River Hawks.  
 
UMass Lowell heads out for a two-game road trip this week, making their first stop in Durham, N.H. to take on New Hampshire on Thursday, Sept. 30 at 6 p.m.