LOWELL, Mass. –  The UMass Lowell men's soccer team (1-2-1, 0-0-0 AE) scored four goals in the second half, but it wasn't enough as they fell to the Holy Cross Crusaders (1-3-0, 0-0-0 PL), 5-4, Tuesday night at Cushing Field.
 
"The boys are working hard," said head coach Kyle Zenoni. "It's a learning process, it's not going to be perfect. The way they are fighting, we'll clean it up. It's early, but the way they are fighting is a great sign. They never back down, they never give up. It's a really good sign."
 
The River Hawks had four different goal scorers, including junior Guillermo Francés Poquet (Enguera, Valencia), and sophomores Viljar Byrkjeland (Norheimsund, Norway) and Kai McLoughlin (Dural, New South Wales) who all finished with a goal and an assist. In net, junior Loucas Costeas (Nicosia, Cyrprus) played all 90 minutes while tallying three saves.
 
Holy Cross opened the game controlling possession, keeping the ball on UMass Lowell's side of the field for a majority of the first ten minutes of the game. However, it was the River Hawk defense that won the early battle, holding the Crusaders to only one shot over that time. The Crusaders took the lead in the 20th minute after a corner kick was launched in front of the net for Evan Jones, who jumped in front of the UMass Lowell defenders and tipped the ball in.
 
Despite Holy Cross keeping most of the possession throughout the remainder of the half, the River Hawks continued to battle, outshooting the Crusaders 4-3 heading into the break.
 
Coming out of the locker room, the River Hawks quickly stole the momentum from Holy Cross. After Senior Borna Miklic (Kutina, Croatia) fired a shot that was rejected by the goalie, Francés Poquet recovered the rebound and lobbed it in front of the net for Byrkjeland, who landed a foot on it to poke it into the back of the net, tying the game up at one.  Six minutes later, Holy Cross retaliated, jumping back in front 2-1.
 
In the 68th minute, the River Hawks tied it back up. This time it was Byrkjeland who made a great pass ten yards in front of the net, setting up Francés Poquet for his second goal of the season. Less than two minutes later, UMass Lowell found its first lead of the night. Bringing the ball up the field, junior Milan Rosic (Burlingame, Calif.) threaded a pass between two Holy Cross defenders to McLoughlin who laced a shot into the top of the net from 20 yards out for the 3-2 lead. The scoring did not end there, as only 20 seconds later, Holy Cross tallied their third goal of the night, tying the game once again, this time at three.
 
In the 78th minute, Holy Cross jumped in front for third time to hold a 4-3 lead. However, the River Hawks were resilient, and only 17 seconds later, while crossing through the box sophomore Jonathan Ferreira (Ashland, Mass.) got in front of the loose ball and tapped it in past the goalkeeper, knotting the game up again.
 
With under four minutes to play, Holy Cross tallied their fifth goal of the night, which stood to be the game winner.
 
Next up, the River Hawks will head back on the road to take on Merrimack at 12 p.m. on Saturday, September 10, at Martone-Mejail Field.