BALTIMORE, MD. – The UMass Lowell men's soccer team (2-6-3, 0-2-1 AE) fell to the UMBC Retrievers (6-4-1, 1-2-0 AE), 5-1, on Saturday night at Retriever Soccer Park.
 
"We were not at our best today," said head coach Kyle Zenoni. "This is a group effort, and it starts with me. We struggled to compete on set pieces which cost us tonight."
 
Scoring for the River Hawks was senior Borna Miklic (Kutina, Croatia). The goal marked the fifth of his season, a new career high. Graduate student Javier Torres (Málaga, Spain) added to the offense with an assist and lead the team with three shots. In net, junior Loucas Costeas (Nicosia, Cyprus) made eight saves in 90 minutes of action.
 
In the opening minutes, both teams played aggressively battling for possession while exchanging shots.  However, in the 21st minute, the Retrievers struck first off their second corner attempt of the night. After freshman Oscar Perez (Sagunto, Spain) blocked a header attempt, Ryan Becher fired a shot off the rebound that clipped Taylor Calheira's shoulder and snuck past the keeper, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead.
 
The Retrievers continued to apply pressure to the River Hawks' defense, and minutes later earned another corner. After a header attempt off the corner went wide, defender Jordan Ehart connected with the loose ball to double UMBC's lead. In the remaining minutes of the half, both teams fired off multiple shots, but neither team was able to find the back of the net.
 
Coming out of the half, UMBC picked up where they left off and continued to control possession. In the 48th minute, the Retrievers moved the ball quickly upfield and struck again to take a 3-0 lead. Twelve minutes later, the hosts added one more goal to extend their lead to 4-0.
 
In the 64th minute, UMass Lowell found their best scoring opportunity of the night. Down on the offensive end of the field, the River Hawks lobbed a throw-in to Torres. After making a quick move past a UMBC defender, he launched a shot in front of the net for Miklic, who headed the ball past the Retrievers' goalie to get the visitors on the board. Four minutes later, UMBC added one more goal to take back the four-goal advantage.
 
In the final 20 minutes of action, UMass Lowell continued to battle and hold off the aggressive Retriever offense, but they were unable to get back on the scoreboard, resulting in the 5-1 final.
 
Next up, the River Hawks take on Yale at Cushing Field on Tuesday, October 8, at 7 p.m.