NEWARK, N.J. – Junior Calliste Brookshire (Kingston, Mass.) scored her sixth goal of the season to lead the UMass Lowell women's soccer team (5-5-2, 2-1-0 AE) to a 2-0 victory over the NJIT Highlanders (2-6-5, 0-3-1 AE) on Sunday afternoon.
 
Sophomore Ioanna Papatheodorou's (Nea Erithraia, Greece) led the team with four shots while graduate student Lily Fabian (Monson, Mass.) tallied three shots. Brookshire is now tied for the team lead with Papatheodorou with six goals this season. Redshirt junior Taylor Burgess (Mendon, Mass.) made just one save to keep the clean sheet. Twenty River Hawks saw game action on Sunday.

"Super happy with the win. It was hard to break them down and although we had a lot of possession, it was hard to get chances," said head coach Mira Novak. "I'm glad in the second half we were able to break through and score two goals. Another impactful performance from Calliste [Brookshire] with a goal today and two goals on Thursday. Our back four had another great performance and helped get our forwards in good positions."
 
The River Hawks enjoyed majority of the possession in the first half, keeping the play in the Highlanders half of the field. Redshirt senior Chaima Khammar (Cologne, Germany) registered the first shot on goal in the 5^th minute for UMass Lowell, an effort from outside of the box. Papatheodorou's shot from distance in the 7^th minute was helped onto the crossbar, but the River Hawks offense looked hungry early.  
 
UMass Lowell's pressure prevented the Highlanders from building any attack in the opening half. The midfield broke up passes and put the pressure back onto the NJIT back line. The hosts had their first shot in the 27^th minute, an effort that went wide of the goal. As the game settled, the River Hawks still maintained majority of the possession, but held the ball between the boxes with no real threat on the Highlander net.
 
The River Hawks outshot the Highlanders 7-2 with three shots on goal. Papatheodorou led the way with three shots while Khammar and Fabian tallied the attempts on goal for the visitors. The first substitutions for UMass Lowell came into the game in the 40^th minute to get fresh legs on the field to end the half. Papatheodorou had a chance on goal in the final minute, but the teams went into the half in a scoreless tie.
 
Out of the break, the River Hawks continued where they left off with possession in the NJIT defensive end. The deadlock was broken in the 59^th minute as junior Calliste Brookshire (Kingston, Mass.) saw her free kick just outside of the box deflect off an NJIT defender and in to give UMass Lowell a 1-0 lead. Just a minute later, the visitors were awarded another free kick outside the box. Brookshire's free kick found the bottom far corner for her third goal in two games and doubled the River Hawks' lead. Papatheodorou had another great opportunity on goal in the 74^th minute after junior Marissa Saucedo (Ventura, Calif.) got in behind the Highlander defense. The junior cut the ball back to find the forward, but the shot was saved, and a follow-up effort was blocked. UMass Lowell tallied three more shots in the final 10 minutes and kept NJIT pinned in their own end.

"I'm glad we scored the first goal, with the difficult weather and conditions, it was tough to create chances," added Novak. "But we're happy with the three points, a clean sheet and the first road conference win of the season. I hope we can build on this week and go win a few more games."
 
Brookshire's sixth of the year and an NJIT own goal led the River Hawks to a 2-0 victory over the Highlanders and the second straight conference win. UMass Lowell returns to action on Sunday, October 9 when the Bryant Bulldogs come to Lowell. Kickoff is slated for 2:00 p.m. at Cushing Field.