LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell women's soccer team (0-1-2, 0-0 AE) and Massachusetts Minutewomen (1-0-2, 0-0 A-10) played to an exciting 2-2 draw in front of a packed crowd at Cushing Field on Thursday night.
 
Freshman Luka Marceau (Newton, Mass.) scored her first collegiate goal and graduate student Julia Edholm (Stockholm, Sweden) netted her first goal of the campaign while senior Calliste Brookshire (Kingston, Mass.) and sophomore Sophie St. George (Walpole, Mass.) each tallied an assist. Redshirt senior Taylor Burgess (Mendon, Mass.) made 11 saves on the night.
 
Massachusetts got on the board with a goal from Bella Recinos in the eighth minute, putting the River Hawks on their heels early. The Minutewomen continued to pin UMass Lowell back in the early stages of the game and applied pressure on the defense. The hosts had a chance at the other end after junior Laura Cetina (Galicia, Spain) created space at the top of the box, but the junior's left-footed strike went wide.
 
The River Hawks struggled to get out of their defensive end in the first half, but the defense cleared their lines to keep the deficit at one. Julia Edholm's introduction settled the midfield down and would pay off in the 34^th minute. The graduate student's strike from outside of the box found the top left corner of the goal, tying the game.
 
It was a battle in the midfield in the first half with the Minutewomen winning early 50/50 battles. Substitutions helped the River Hawks maintain possession and begin building attacks through the back. Taylor Burgess made seven first half saves as the teams went into the halftime break tied at 1-1. Massachusetts outshot UMass Lowell 13-5 in the opening 45 minutes.
 
A goal in the 48^th minute put the Minutewomen back in front early in the second half as Grace Pinkus' header from a free kick found the top corner of the goal. The River Hawks struggled to move through the midfield in the second half with Massachusetts clogging passing lanes and winning challenges.
 
Senior Marissa Saucedo (Ventura, Calif.) played a brilliant ball in behind in the 69^th minute to Calliste Brookshire, but the senior's attempt was saved by the goalkeeper. The River Hawks had another great chance in the 77^th minute as Brookshire made a darting run forward but saw her shot saved again.
 
The equalizer came in the 82^nd minute after Brookshire worked into space on the left side of the field. The senior's cross found Luka Marceau at the back posted who headed the ball into the goal to tie the game. UMass Lowell found the back of the net in the 84^th minute after Brookshire pounced on a loose ball, but the goal was disallowed.   
 
UMass Lowell had a direct free kick from 25 yards out with 15 seconds to play, but nothing came of the set piece and the game ended in a familiar 2-2 draw.
Next up for the River Hawks is a Sunday afternoon matchup with #15 South Carolina at Cushing Field. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.