PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The UMass Lowell men's soccer team (1-4-1, 0-0-0 AE) fell to the Brown Bears (2-1-0, 0-0-0 Ivy) 5-2 on Wednesday night at Stevenson-Pincince Field.
 
Graduate student Javier Torres (Málaga, Spain) tallied his first goal as a River Hawk, while sophomore Viljar Byrkjeland added in a goal, his fourth of the season. Seniors Borna Miklic (Kutina, Croatia) and Denis Petro (Michalovce, Slovakia) as well as sophomore Jonathan Ferreira all recorded an assist. In net, senior Jacob Heihsel (Holliston, Mass.) made five saves.

"Brown got the better of us tonight," said head coach Kyle Zenoni. "I give Chase and his staff a lot of credit. They took advantage of us on some set pieces early which forced us to open up a bit. To the guys credit, they fought back and are working at it. They are not giving up and I am very proud of that."
 
Brown got off to a fast start, getting on the board only three minutes into the game. Lined up in front of the net, Taha Kina headed in a corner kick to give the home team a 1-0 advantage. The Bears continued to pressure the River Hawks and put up two more shots over the next nine minutes of action.
 
In the 20^th minute, Heihsel sent a goal kick deep to Miklic who collected the ball and dumped it off to Byrkjeland. From 25 yards out, Byrkjeland fired a rocket over the leaping goalkeeper to tie the game up at one. Minutes later, Jamin Gogo Peters snuck a shot into the bottom right corner of the net to put Brown back on top.
 
In the 28^th minute, the River Hawks had a chance to retaliate when Ferreira fired a shot from the right side of the box past three defenders, but it was rejected by the goalkeeper. Ferreira sprinted to the middle of the box to collect the rebound and fired off another shot that was blocked by a Bears defender. UMass Lowell had one more opportunity as junior Milan Rosic (Burlingame, Calif.) collected the second rebound and launched a shot from 20 yards out, but a diving save from the netminder kept the game tied.
 
After a throw-in by Brown was placed just in front of the River Hawks' net, Noah Atanda sent a shot into the back of the net, extending their lead to 3-1 in the 30^th minute. Immediately following the reset, the River Hawks quickly moved up the field. Petro sent a crossing shot just wide of the net to Ferreira who tipped it right to Torres, setting him up for a shot that he sent right past the goalkeeper, pulling UMass Lowell within one. Throughout the remaining 15 minutes of the half Brown led in possession time, but UMass Lowell was resilient and fought off their offensive attacks, keeping the 3-2 score heading into the break.
 
The River Hawks' defense started strong in the second half, keeping the hosts out of the attacking zone, and limiting them to only one shot early. Five minutes into the half, the River Hawks broke past the Browns' defense and gained a man advantage which set up junior Guillermo Francés Poquet (Enguera, Valencia) for a great scoring opportunity. From 10 yards out, Francés Poquet laced a shot at the goal, but a diving stop from the keeper kept Brown in front.
 
In the 62nd minute, Brown added another goal to double their lead, making it a 4-2 game. Ten minutes later the Bears added a fifth goal to secure the victory.
 
Next up, the River Hawks will continue their road trip as they head to Amherst, Mass. to take on Massachusetts at Rudd Field on Tuesday, September 20, at 4 p.m.