LOWELL, Mass. – The No. 4 UMass Lowell women's soccer team's (7-7-4, 4-2-2 AE) season has come to an end after falling to the No. 5 UAlbany Great Danes (7-8-4, 3-2-3 AE) by a score of 3-1 on Sunday evening at Cushing Field.
 
Junior Chloe Layne (Wrentham, Mass.) scored the lone goal for the River Hawks, her fourth of the season. Sophomore Ioanna Papatheodorou (Nea Erithraia, Greece) added an assist, her fourth on the year. Redshirt junior Taylor Burgess (Mendon, Mass.) made six saves.
 
UMass Lowell got off to a good start to the match, creating two good opportunities in the first two minutes of the game. Junior Calliste Brookshire (Kingston, Mass.) had a chance in the fifth minute, a bad angle shot that forced a save from UAlbany's Hart. The River Hawks dominated possession and had plenty of time in the attacking third in the opening 20 minutes but could not find the back of the net.
 
The best chance of the half for UMass Lowell came in the 26^th minute as Papatheodorou turned her defender to create enough separation to get a shot off. The chance went just wide of the post, but the River Hawks were knocking on the door. On the back end, graduate Dunja Mostarac (Belgrade, Serbia) came up with big tackles and blocked shots to keep the game level as the Great Danes found a way back into the game.
 
The visitors took the lead in the 35^th minute, catching the River Hawks on the break. Olivia Piraino found space on the left side on the counterattack and placed a driven shot into the far corner to give UAlbany a 1-0 lead. The Great Danes would take the lead into the halftime break.
 
Out of the break, the River Hawks came out firing. Just 25 seconds into the second half, Brookshire had an opportunity at the back post, but could not get off a clean shot and the attempt was collected by Hart. In the 54^th minute, Papatheodorou did well to create space between herself and the defender once again and managed a shot on goal, but the effort was saved. A minute later, the hosts found an equalizer through Chloe Layne. The junior connected with Papatheodorou with a give-and-go around the UAlbany defense. Papatheodorou's cut back created space to find a streaking Layne at the penalty spot and the junior tucked the shot into the corner to tie the game at 1-1.
 
The Great Danes responded with a few good chances of their own, but the score remained tied as the game approached 20 minutes to play. UAlbany was awarded a penalty in the 74^th minute and Marisa Tava converted from the spot to put the visitors back in front. Four minutes later, Piraino snuck behind the defense again and tucked away her second of the game, extending the lead to 3-1.
 
Despite a strong push in the final minutes, the River Hawks fell to UAlbany. UMass Lowell's season comes to an end with an overall record of 7-7-4 and a 4-2-2 mark in conference play.