LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell men's soccer team (2-8-4, 0-3-2 AE) fought to a 0-0 draw against the Bryant Bulldogs (3-8-1, 0-4-1 AE) on Senior Day at Cushing Field.
Although they were unable to find the back of the net, the River Hawks outshot the Bulldogs 17-5, including holding Bryant to zero shots for the entire first half. Leading the River Hawks in shots was junior Guillermo Francés Poquet (Enguera, Valencia), who had five shots including two on goal. In net, senior
Jacob Heihsel (Holliston, Mass.) logged his career-high third shutout of the season, while making four saves on five shots faced. Prior to the match the team honored their eight senior squad members who had made their mark on the UMass Lowell program.
"The guys played well," said head coach
Kyle Zenoni. "That was probably one of our better performances of the year just as a complete performance. We had a shutout, we had plenty of chances and their goalkeeper came up big quite a few times. When you talk about complete performances, that's the game of soccer for you and it's unfortunate, but I was pleased by the overall performance from the guys."
As soon as the game started, the River Hawks controlled possession and were able to pressure the Bulldogs' defense. Within the first twenty minutes of the game, UMass Lowell already had generated multiple chances while logging five shots, including one on goal. Despite not getting on the board early, UMass Lowell maintained possession for a majority of the first half, while the defense was able to keep Bryant from logging a shot heading into the break.
In the second half, the River Hawks continued to assert pressure on the Bulldogs, but this time found a lot of opportunities to take the lead. Only three minutes into the second half, sophomore Kai McLouglin (Dural, New South Wales) was able to break past a defender and move the ball up field before firing off a shot that was saved by the diving Bryant goalie, but was rebounded right to Francés Poquet, but his shot was blocked by a Bulldogs' defender who had fallen to the ground.
In the 62nd minute, the River Hawks converted on an incredible sequence of events that just barely missed putting them in front. Once again sprinting down the field, McLoughlin sent a crossing pass just to the front right of the net, setting up senior
Borna Miklic (Kutina, Croatia). Instead of looking for the goal, Miklic headed the ball over to Francés Poquet who made a fantastic diving shot, but the Bulldogs' goaltender was able to just get a finger on it, deflecting the ball over the net.
The River Hawks fired off another four shots in the final 25 minutes of action but were unable to find a game-winner on Senior Day, resulting in a 0-0 draw.
Next up, the River Hawks will continue to fight for a playoff spot as they welcome the UAlbany Great Danes to Lowell on Friday, October 28. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.
