DURHAM, N.H. – A late goal from Ioanna Papatheodorou (Nea Erithraia, Greece) led the UMass Lowell women's soccer team (6-3-1, 3-0-0 AE) to a 2-1 victory Thursday night at America East Conference foe New Hampshire (2-6-2, 0-2-1 AE).

"I'm really happy with the win, and to be sitting at 3-0 in conference play right now," said Head Coach Mira Novak after the game. "This is a tough opponent that we struggle to beat, so I'm just happy we found a way today. It wasn't easy, especially after surviving some chances in the first half. We then found a way to create our own chances on the counterattack. I'm happy with the performance in the second half because we were able to keep the ball and not allow UNH to create too many chances."

Senior Emily Nelson (Peabody, Mass.), who put the River Hawks on the board with a goal off of a penalty kick in the 41st minute, led the way offensively with five shots, including three chances on goal. Defensively, freshman goalkeeper Lisa Sjögren (Skellefteå, Sweden) set a career high with seven saves in the outing.

The River Hawks dominated possession in the first half, outshooting the Wildcats, 10-5. However, one of the most important moments in the game came early on, when in the 12th minute, Sjögren made a huge save on a UNH penalty kick, which would have given the home team a quick advantage.

Roughly 30 minutes later, the River Hawks earned their own opportunity at a penalty kick, which they did not let go to waste. On that set piece, Nelson was able to sneak one past the UNH keeper to give her squad a 1-0 lead at the break.

The second half was extremely competitive, as the two teams vied for the momentum. UMass Lowell took a slight, 8-7 edge in shots in the period. It was not until the 88th minute that a goal was scored, with Papatheodorou putting UMass Lowell up, 2-0, off an assist from redshirt-junior Chaima Khammar (Cologne, Germany).

UNH would not go quietly and answered less than a minute later with a goal from Ella Dudley, but the River Hawks were able to fend off the Wildcat attack in the final seconds of the game to lock up the 2-1 victory.

Next up for the River Hawks is a battle with conference opponent UMBC on Sunday, October 3 at Retriever Soccer Park in Baltimore, Md.