NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The UMass Lowell men's soccer team (1-3-1, 0-0-0 AE) fell to the Merrimack Warriors (2-3-0, 0-0-0 NEC), 2-0, on Saturday afternoon at Martone-Mejail field.
 
Sophomore Viljar Byrkjeland (Norheimsund, Norway) led the team with two shots in 85 minutes of action. Senior Jacob Heihsel (Holliston, Mass.) made his third start in net, playing all 90 minutes while recording nine saves on 16 shots faced.

"It was a tough game today," said head coach Kyle Zenoni. "We need to put together a full game of quality, not just one half. We were a bit flat in the first but I thought we came out really well in the second."
 
The Warriors got off to a quick start, scoring just over a minute into the game. After a UMass Lowell foul inside the box, Johan Feilscher fired a penalty kick into the bottom left corner of the net to give Merrimack the early 1-0 advantage. Following the penalty kick, the Warriors began to put pressure on the River Hawks' defense by firing off five shots in 15 minutes. However, UMass Lowell was up for the task, continuously thwarting the Merrimack attack, including three straight saves Heihsel.
 
Sophomore Giacomo Sinopoli (Williston, N.J.) gave the River Hawks a chance to tie the game in the 37th minute, but his shot was deflected by a Merrimack defender before being saved by the goalkeeper. The River Hawks continued to push the ball on to the host's side of the pitch but were unable to even the score heading into the break.
 
Eight minutes into the second half, the River Hawks had their best scoring opportunity of the day. Graduate student Javier Torres (Málaga, Spain) broke past two defenders to collect a pass just outside the box, and fired it past the remaining defenders, but a diving save from the goaltender kept the visitors scoreless.
 
Throughout the remainder of the half, both teams exchanged shot opportunities, but the Warriors outshot the River Hawks, 9-4. With under 10 minutes to play, Merrimack sent a corner kick high into the box, which was then headed in to extend the lead to 2-0. Following the goal, the River Hawks attacked aggressively to try and get on the board, but the Warriors held possession and wasted away the remainder of the clock to finalize the 2-0 score.

"There are a lot of positives throughout the game and I'm excited to get back at it with the guys," remarked Zenoni. "It's early in the season and we are growing as a group. We knew it was not going to be easy, it's never fun to lose any game, but I am excited to see the continued growth of the group."
 
Next up, the River Hawks will take on the Brown Bears on Wednesday, September 14th. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Stevenson-Pincince Field in Providence, R.I.