LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell men's soccer team (2-8-5, 0-3-3 AE) earned a hard-fought point in a 0-0 draw against the UAlbany Great Danes (4-7-5, 3-1-2 AE) on Friday night at Cushing Field.
 
The River Hawks owned the shot advantage, 17-14, however, both teams tallied only four shots on goal each. Leading the River Hawks in shots was sophomore Kai McLoughlin (Dural, New South Wales) who tallied five total shots, including one shot on goal in 90 minutes of action. Senior Borna Miklic (Kutina, Croatia) was right behind him with four total shots. In net, senior Jacob Heihsel (Holliston, Mass.) made four saves en route to his fourth shutout of the season, extending his career high.
 
"The guys put everything out there, they worked hard," said head coach Kyle Zenoni. "I thought they played well. We had chances to score, and I thought we were really good defensively. We're playing well, I just think it's a matter of getting a goal and then taking care of business from there."
 
Right from kickoff, UMass Lowell dominated possession and put the Great Danes' defense under pressure. In the first 22 minutes of the game, the River Hawks posted seven total shots without allowing the Great Danes to get a shot off. The best opportunity in the early game came when senior Denis Petro (Michalovce, Slovakia) fired off a shot into the upper right corner of the net, but the UAlbany goaltender timed his jump perfectly to get a hand on the ball and reject the goal.
 
Midway through the first half, the Great Danes began to find their rhythm as they started to control more possession and looked for opportunities to get on the board. However, UMass Lowell was up to the challenge and was able to hold UAlbany to only three shots over the remainder of the half. The game remained scoreless heading into the break, but the River Hawks held a shot advantage, 8-3.
 
Coming out of the break, the visitors carried over their momentum from the end of the first half, as they continued to move the ball onto the UMass Lowell side of the field. The River Hawks defense, however, would not break, and Heihsel made a pair of great saves to keep the game scoreless with 30 minutes to play.
 
In the 86th minute, the River Hawks had the perfect opportunity to jump out in front with little time remaining.  After controlling a loose ball, McLoughlin, who was near the back left corner of the field, bolted towards the goal before sending a crossing pass high into the box to set up a header. After getting under the ball, Miklic lept into the air and got his head under the ball, sending it towards the net, but the UAlbany goalkeeper made a diving save, keeping the game scoreless and resulting in the 0-0 draw.
 
Next up, the River Hawks wrap up the regular season when they head North to take on New Hampshire on Tuesday, November 1 at Wildcat Stadium. Kickoff is currently set for 6 p.m.