LOWELL, Mass. - Senior Guillermo Francés Poquet tallied his team-high fifth goal of the season, as the UMass Lowell men's soccer team (2-9-3, 0-5-0 AE) fell to the Binghamton Bearcats (4-8-2, 2-1-2 AE), 2-1, on Saturday afternoon.

"We gave up two goals on set pieces, which we've been fairly good on all year, but today we weren't," said head coach Kyle Zenoni. "We're knocking on the door. We just got to figure out as we move forward with the program finding ways to win."

Recording an assist on the goal by Francés Poquet was sophomore Patrick Pires (Santo Añtao, Cape Verde), which was good for his first point as a River Hawk. Sophomore Calvin Scholten (Hengelo, Netherlands) also tallied two shots, including one on goal, in 26 minutes of action. In net, junior Adam Henry (Fort Myers, Fl.) tallied nine saves on 22 shots faced.

Although the River Hawks tallied the first shot of the game less than ten seconds in off the foot of junior Shunnosuke Nakajima (Yokohama, Japan), Binghamton controlled possession in the opening 25 minutes, outshooting the hosts 10-1. The UMass Lowell defense proved they were up for the challenge, forcing four shots off target while Henry made an impressive six saves. 

With 31:51 on the clock, the River Hawks found their best scoring opportunity of the first half. After a contested ball was sent down the sidelines, sophomore Iñaki Esnaola (Junin, Argentina) sprinted past the defense to collect the ball and bring it into the box. The sophomore promptly squared up before lacing the ball at the net but just missed to the top-left corner, keeping things scoreless. The Bearcats fired off two more shots before the break, but the match remained knotted at 0-0 heading into the locker rooms.

Looking to take the lead, the River Hawks came out of the second half aggressive, controlling the ball while not allowing a shot in the opening minutes. The aggression paid off, as only five minutes in the River Hawks found the back of the net. With the ball near midfield, Pires sent a deep pass to the end of the pitch, just to the side of the net for Francés Poquet. The Valencia native then fired a shot off from what seemed to be an impossible angle, tucking the ball into the top right corner of the net to give his squad the lead. However, the Bearcats responded with a goal in the 60th and 63rd minute to jump in front of UMass Lowell, 2-1.

Following the two goals from the Bearcats, the River Hawks pressed as they looked for an equalizer. A string of three straight shots in the 70th minute had UMass Lowell knocking on the door, but they were unable to capitalize. In the final ten minutes of the match, the two sides locked down on defense, as neither team logged a shot, sealing the 2-1 decision.

Next up, the River Hawks will host New Hampshire in the final home game of the season on Thursday, October 26. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Cushing Field.