River Hawks Fall to Holy Cross, 1-0, Despite Offensive Pressure

Tuesday, September 7

Worcester, MA

6PM

University of Massachusetts Lowell

1-2-1, 0-0-0

Holy Cross

3-0-1, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
UMass Lowell	0	0	0
Holy Cross	1	0	1

River Hawks Fall to Holy Cross, 1-0, Despite Offensive Pressure

9/7/2021 9:52:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

WORCESTER, Mass. - The UMass Lowell men's soccer team (1-2-1) fell, 1-0, at Holy Cross (3-0-1) on Tuesday evening despite out-chancing the Crusaders.

The River Hawks outshot their hosts, 17-4, on the night, as sophomore Guillermo Francés Poquet (Enguera, Valencia) led UMass Lowell with three. A total of nine corner kicks were taken by UMass Lowell over the course of the match, as well, but a first-half goal by Holy Cross proved to be the difference.

"Tonight was a good example of how one mental error can cost us a game even after having complete control of it," said Head Coach Christian Figueroa. "We created some good opportunities and need to be better to score them, but we can't continue to put pressure on our back line by not scoring goals."

The River Hawks logged their first scoring opportunity in the 11^th minute when senior Borna Miklic (Kutina, Croatia) found the ball at his feet in close, but his attempt was blocked away by Crusader keeper Jimmy Joyce.

In the 20^th minute, Holy Cross midfielder Connor Bagdon sent in a quick cross to Jack Ostrosky. A diving header then slotted the ball into the bottom left corner just past the fingertips of senior Christian Miesch (Ried-Brig, Switzerland) to give the home team the 1-0 edge.

The River Hawks continued on the attack for the remainder of the match. A barrage of chances were taken late in the opening frame, including a free kick by junior Alessandro Marongiu (Villa San Pietro, Italy) in the 43^rd minute that narrowly went over the crossbar.

Although Bagdon connected on a header off a Holy Cross corner that just missed the left side in the 50^th minute, the River Hawks were quick to create a majority of the chances in the second half. Sophomore Reziq Banihani (Irbid, Jordan) split a pair of defenders in the 60^th minute, but his ball was cleared away inside the penalty area.

Late opportunities by juniors Denis Petro (Michalovce, Slovakia) and Josh Ofosu (Chelmsford, MA) threatened to lead to the game-tying goal, but it was not enough to beat Joyce, who finished the night with four saves.

The River Hawks look to win the conclusion of a three-game road stretch against Yale on Saturday, September 11.