PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The UMass Lowell field hockey team squared off against one of the nation's best teams on Sunday, falling, 4-0, at No. 11 St. Joseph's in the squad's first road test of the 2023 season.

"We were not our best today," said Shannon LeBlanc. "A lot of uncharacteristic performances and we didn't make the in-game changes that were required. We didn't value ball possession and our basics were weak today. We couldn't find our rhythm and St. Joseph's capitalized on our missteps. I'm looking forward to getting back on the field in training this week to work on becoming more consistent in our game performance."
 
Sophomore Isabelle Halters (Noordwijk, Netherlands) registered two of the River Hawks' five shots in the contest. In the cage, senior goalkeeper Christina Calandra (Manchester, Mass.) logged four saves against the tough opponent.
 
St. Joseph's came out on the attack to start the day, wracking up four shots and four corners in the first 15 minutes. However, the UMass Lowell defense kept the game scoreless with the help of a pair of saves from Calandra.
 
The River Hawks closed the first quarter with their first corner chance, but a shot from senior Mirthe Gans (Tiel, Netherlands) went wide. The hosts were then able to get on the board in the 24^th minute, converting on their lone corner opportunity of the second thanks to a tally from Celeste Smits. Less than a minute later, St. Joseph's was able to extend the lead, as Erika Culp collected and finished her own rebound, giving her side a 2-0 edge at the break.
 
Coming out of halftime, the teams traded possession for the majority of the third. Halters fired hard on target early in the quarter, but keeper Janelle Ward fended off the attempt. In the 44^th minute, St. Joseph's added to their buffer on another corner, this time with Lily Santi redirecting a pass from Manu Ghigliotti.
 
The River Hawks continued to battle into the fourth, putting back-to-back chances from freshman Florine Gerrits (Amstelveen, Netherlands) and Halters on target in the 52^nd minute, although substitute goalkeeper Marith Bijkerk made the stops.
 
The home team's Alison Buffington would add an unassisted goal down the stretch to secure the 4-0 decision.
 
The River Hawks are back at Wicked Blue Field on Friday, September 1 when they host Merrimack under the lights beginning at 6 p.m.