LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell men's soccer team (2-6-3, 0-2-1 AE) fell to the Yale Bulldogs (5-1-3, 1-1-0 Ivy), 3-0, on Tuesday night at Cushing Field.
 
"I'm really proud of our guys," said head coach Kyle Zenoni. "We played well tonight. I know the score doesn't really reflect that, but we played a man down for 45 minutes. I think we made some good strides tonight."
 
Leading the way for the River Hawk offense was freshman Iñaki Esnaola (Junin, Argentina) with three shots, while graduate student Javier Torres (Málaga, Spain) added in two shots off the bench. In net, senior Jacob Heihsel (Holliston, Mass.) tied his season high with nine saves in a full 90 minutes of action.
 
The Bulldogs opened the game with immediate pressure on the River Hawks defense by maintaining possession in the attacking zone. After a shot by the visitor's was deflected by sophomore Kacper Skonieczny (North Haven, Conn.) into the box, Yale's Paolo Carroll made a pass from the ground to Quanah Brayboy, who tallied the first goal of the game and gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. Despite allowing the early goal, the UMass Lowell defense was resilient and continued to fight off the aggressive offensive attacks from Yale.
 
In the 31st minute, the River Hawks found an opportunity to get on the board. After Yale forced a turnover to regain possession, freshman Michael Oliveri Jr. (West Islip, N.Y.) jumped in front of one of the visitors passes and collected the ball in the attacking zone. After making a quick move past a defender, the freshman found an open look and fired off a shot but missed just right of the net. In the final 10 minutes of the half, Yale fired off a handful of shots, but UMass Lowell kept the Bulldogs off the board to hold the 1-0 score heading into the break.
 
Only two minutes into the second half, freshman Mauro Fernandez (Fitchburg, Mass.) was given his second yellow card of the night, resulting in a red card which removed him from the game and had UMass Lowell playing down a player for the remainder of the game. Immediately following the red card, Yale was once again on the attack and looking to double their lead off the free kick. The Bulldogs launched the ball deep in the box to set up a header, but Heihsel made an incredible diving save to keep it to a one score game.
 
In the 73rd minute, the visitors earned a corner kick that they launched into the box for Alex Umana who headed the ball into the back of the net, taking a 2-0 lead. Moments after the goal, the River Hawks looked to retaliate and found their best scoring opportunity of the night. After a stumble by a Yale defender, Esnaola stole the ball and broke past the remaining two defenders for a one-on-one with the goalie, but his shot attempt went just wide of the net. In the 86th minute, Yale added in one more goal to seal the 3-0 final.
 
Next up, the River Hawks will head back on the road to take on conference opponent Binghamton on Saturday, October 15, at Bearcats Sports Complex. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.