STORRS, CT. – Despite a strong first half performance, the UMass Lowell women's lacrosse team (1-3, 0-0 AE) fell to the University of Connecticut Huskies (2-1, 0-0 Big East), 23-14, on Thursday night.
 
Junior Izzy Liquori (Agawam, Mass.) recorded a team-high four goals, while junior Molly Shaw (Marshfield, Mass.) followed up with three goals of her own. Redshirt freshman Emily Stratton (Camillus, N.Y.) had a three-point night, tallying a goal and two assists.
 
"I thought we competed hard," said head coach Lisa Miller. "We made good progress against a very good team. Our attack moved the ball well and was scoring when we had the ball. The momentum shifted in the third on the draw circle and we just couldn't come up with the ball, resulting in playing a lot of defense in the second half."
 
The River Hawks came out firing, scoring the first goal of the game only 26 seconds in when Shaw found the back of the net off the pass from Stratton. Just over a minute later, Stratton recorded a goal of her own, giving UMass Lowell a 2-0 advantage under two minutes into the game.
 
After the Huskies pulled the game back to within one, Shaw tallied another goal, this time off the pass from freshman Jade Catlin (Middletown, Md.), to extend the lead back to two. Shortly after, junior Grace Hansen added to the River Hawks' scoring running, giving UMass Lowell a 4-1 lead with 6:28 left in the first. A flurry of goals gave the Huskies a 5-4 lead, but sophomore Megan Brockbank (Bayport, N.Y.) scored to tie the game at the end of the first quarter.
 
The second quarter was a back-and-forth battle, kicked off by freshman Sophia Scialdone (Syracuse, N.Y.), who tallied her first career goal to give the River Hawks a 6-5 lead. After back-to-back goals from the Huskies, Liquori put an end to the scoring run with a quick shot that beat the goalie, tying the game up at seven. After a pair of goals by the Huskies, Liquori found the back of the net again to cut the lead to 9-8 heading into the half.
 
Coming out of the half, the River Hawks struggled to find their footing, giving up four goals over five minutes. Hansen and Liquori halted the Huskies' scoring run, adding a pair of goals to cut the UConn lead down to three. The Huskies would score four of the final five goals in the quarter, giving the hosts a 17-11 lead heading into the final quarter.
 
The Huskies pulled away from the River Hawks in the final quarter, totaling six goals in the fourth. Freshman Jenn McCarry (Ambler, Penn.) tallied her first career goal, while Liqouri added her fourth and Shaw completed the hat trick. 
 
Sophomore Jillian Schumacher (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) tallied nine saves, graduate student Alex Salim (East Islip, N.Y.) recorded one save, and freshman Kendall Whalen (Belmont, Mass.) recorded three saves as all three saw time in net.
 
The River Hawks continue their five-game road trip as they travel Fairfield, Connecticut to take on the Sacred Heart Pioneers, on Sunday, February 27 at 1 p.m.