LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell men's soccer team (2-9-3, 0-5-0 AE) will wrap up the 2023 homestand as they host No. 17 New Hampshire (9-1-4, 2-0-3 AE) on Thursday, October 26. Gametime is set to start at 7 p.m.
 
October 25 vs. #17 New Hampshire (7:00 p.m.)
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LAST TIME OUT
The River Hawks enter this week following a 2-1 loss on Senior Day against conference opponent Binghamton. Senior Guillermo Francés Poquet (Enguera, Valencia) led the River Hawks offense with three shots, and scored the lone goal for the River Hawks, while sophomore Calvin Scholten (Hengelo, Netherlands) tallied two shots in the match. Assisting on the goal was sophomore Patrick Piles (Santo Añtao, Cape Verde, giving him his first point as a River Hawk. In net, junior Adam Henry (Fort Myers, Fl.) made nine saves in 90 minutes of action. 

LEADING THE FLOCK
Francés Poquet currently leads the River Hawk squad with five goals for 10 points. Freshman Daniele Mastroianni (Montréal, Quebec) is second on the team with four goals for eight points, while sophomore Oliver Holmstrom (Gävle, Sweden) and sophomore Michael Oliveri Jr. (West Islip, N.Y.) are tied for third, each having three goals and an assist for seven total points. Pacing the team in assists is Calvin Scholten (Hengelo, Netherlands), who totals three assists. Right behind him, graduate student Javier Torres (Málaga, Spain), junior Shunnosuke Nakajima (Yokohama, Japan) and sophomore Iñaki Esnaola (Junin, Argentina), have logged two assists on the year. In net, Henry has made 41 saves in nine appearances, good for a 2.22 goals against average, while Jacob Heihsel (Holliston, Mass.) has made three starts with 14 saves.
 
FRESH FACES
Two of the newest members of the squad have appeared in each of the first 14 games, while six have started in at least nine matches. Of the newest River Hawks, Mastroianni leads in scoring with eight points, junior Justin Milovanov (Sheepshead Bay, N.Y.) totals two goals, Scholten adds three points, and junior Santiago Delfino (Cordoba, Argentina) adds a goal of his own. 
 
FINDING THE BACK OF THE NET
The River Hawks offense has had a strong start to the year, averaging 1.64 goals per game through 14 matches. The most notable performance from UMass Lowell came in a 5-0 shutout against CCSU.

CONFERENCE HONORS
Following his impressive performance against Northeastern, Mastroianni was named the America East Rookie of the Week on September 5. The award marked the first of the rookie's young career and the first for a River Hawk this season. 

AMERICA EAST CONFERENCE
This week NCAA Men's Soccer RPI ranked the America East as the sixth strongest conference in the country, only behind the Pac-12, ACC, Sun Belt, WCC, and Big Ten.
 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Ranked 17^th in the nation, New Hampshire comes to Lowell following a 2-1 win over NJIT. Graduate student forward Eli Goldman leads his team with seven goals on the year for 14 points. Graduate student midfielder Bilal Kamal is second on the team in goals scored with four, but also leads the Wildcats with five assists in 14 matches. In net, Joseba Incera has made 25 saves and allowed eight goals in 11 games started, good for 0.73 goals against average.
 
MATCHUP HISTORY
Tuesday's match will be the 15th meeting between the River Hawks and Wildcats, with New Hampshire holding a 11-3 record in the matchups. Most recently, the two teams faced off in Durham in 2022, where the Wildcats earned a 3-0 victory in the regular season finale. The River Hawks will look to finish out the home season with a victory on Thursday night.
 
A WIN WOULD
Not only would a win mark the first conference win of the season for the River Hawks, but it would also be the first conference loss for the Wildcats, and only the second time they had lost this season. It would also mark the first win for the program over a nationally ranked opponent since 2017 when they knocked off the then #17 New Hampshire 1-0 in double overtime on Senior Night.