ORONO, Maine – Despite forcing overtime with a last-minute goal in regulation, the No. 3 seeded UMass Lowell field hockey team (12-7) dropped a 2-1, shootout heartbreaker against No. 6 New Hampshire (10-9) in the quarterfinal round of the 2022 America East Championship on Thursday.
 
With the decision, the River Hawks' 2022 season has comes to a close. The campaign goes down as the program's most successful yet at the Division I level with a record 12 overall wins.
 
As a team, the River Hawks outshot the Wildcats, 20-11. Senior Berbel Rozema (Rotterdam, Netherlands) scored the lone goal of the day for UMass Lowell. Freshman goalkeeper Riley Knott (Morrisville, Pa.) earned her first career start in the outing, totaling three saves.
 
The first half proved to be a defensive stalemate, as the River Hawks did a good job keeping their opponents out of scoring position. UNH threatened to get on the board in the 21^st minute, but graduate student Jenna Berger (Waterloo, Ontario) intercepted a pass in the middle of the circle and sprinted it all the way out.
 
The River Hawks earned the first corner of the contest in the 23^rd minute, but were unable to capitalize. Then, in the waning minutes of the half, Tasmin Cookman got an open look for the Wildcats' first shot of the match, but her reverse-stick chip sailed high. UNH kept the pressure on with two more shots, but the contesting River Hawk defense helped push them off target, sending the teams into the break deadlocked at 0-0.
 
The second half continued to be ruled by the defense and although it looked like it would stay scoreless, UNH created a two-on-one breakaway that would result in a goal by Leah Gidden with less than five minutes to go in regulation.
 
There was no quit in the River Hawks, though, as the team battled into their offensive end and earned a corner with a minute on the clock. On the play, freshman Meike Vischer (The Hague, Netherlands) dribbled the ball down from the top of the circle and trickled it over to a waiting Rozema, who slapped it home to force overtime.
 
In the final seconds of the first overtime period, junior Mirthe Gans (Tiel, Netherlands) fired hard, but her attempt was batted away by goalkeeper Jemma Woods. The River Hawks outshot the Wildcats, 6-3, in the second overtime, but the game would eventually be decided in a shootout that went in favor of UNH, 2-0, en route to the 2-1 outcome.