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.
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