BROOKLINE, Mass. – Freshman Daniele Mastroianni (Montréal, Quebec) scored the first two goals of his career as the UMass Lowell men's soccer team took down Northeastern, 2-1, on Monday night at Parsons Field.
 
"I thought we settled down and played a bit after the first 15-20 minutes," recalled Head Coach Kyle Zenoni. "Northeastern is well coached and hard to play against so I was happy with the way we fought. We had guys step in and play some big minutes to help get us the result. It's not easy to win games in college and winning on the road is always that much more challenging. We found a way tonight and it was a special moment for the team."

Alongside the two goals from Mastroianni, also tallying points on the night were graduate student Javier Torres (Málaga, Spain) and sophomore Iñaki Esnaola (Junin, Argentina), who both recorded an assist on game-winning goal. In net, graduate student Jacob Heihsel (Holliston, Mass.) recorded six saves en route to the victory.
 
Northeastern started the game with an aggressive offensive attack, totaling two shots and three corners in the opening ten minutes. The River Hawks defense, however, was up to the challenge, continuously fighting off the Huskies' scoring attempts, which included a save by Heihsel in the bottom corner of the net.
 
In the 23rd minute, following a back-and-forth battle for possession, UMass Lowell found their first scoring opportunity of the night. After the offensive unit moved the ball down the field, junior Justin Milovanov (Sheepshead Bay, N.Y.) launched a shot at the net, but the hosts' goalkeeper got his gloves on it, keeping the game scoreless. The two teams battled for the remainder of the half, with UMass Lowell outshooting the Huskies 3-2, but neither team capitalized, keeping the game a 0-0 draw heading into the break.
 
In the 51st minute, the River Hawks had their first scoring chance of the half when sophomore Michael Oliveri Jr. (West Islip, N.Y.) fired off a shot that was blocked. With the ball loose inside the box, Mastroianni connected on it with his left foot, shooting it into the top right corner of the net, earning his first career goal and giving his squad a 1-0 lead. Northeastern quickly retaliated, evening the score at 1-1 only six minutes later.
 
With just over six minutes remaining in the match and the score still knotted up, the River Hawks used quick ball movement to find the game-winning goal. After Esnaola dished the ball to Torres, the grad student sent a cross into the box, setting up Mastroianni, who once again put the River Hawks in front.
 
In the final two minutes, the Huskies looked for an equalizer, but two brilliant saves from Heihsel helped secure the 2-1 victory.
 
Next up, the River Hawks will conclude their season opening road trip when they take on Boston University on Sunday, September 3. Opening kickoff is set for 4 p.m. at Nickerson Field.