Box Score IOWA CITY, Iowa – Graduate student Berbel Rozema (Rotterdam, Netherlands) registered the lone goal for her side, as the UMass Lowell field hockey team (3-2) clashed with No. 1 Iowa and fell, 5-1, on Sunday afternoon.
 
"Unfortunately, when you are down three in the first quarter, it doesn't set you up for success," said Head Coach Shannon LeBlanc. "However, the adjustments that were made in quarter two resulted in us being back in the game. We know we didn't take care of the ball in our attacking end as much as we would have liked, but we are very proud of this back-to-back game performance after a challenging week. We showed today that we can compete with the No. 1 team in the country for 60 minutes, and also feel like our best play is yet to come."
 
The contest marked the River Hawks' first ever clash with the nation's top team at the Division I level. The squad battled the whole way, keeping the shots on-goal margin to 13-5 and the difference on corners to just 10-6.
 
With her goal today, Rozema now totals three on the season so far to sit second on the team. In the cage, senior Christina Calandra (Manchester, Mass.) made a season-high eight saves.
 
The River Hawks were quick to get the ball in their offensive zone to start the game, forcing three straight corners in the opening minutes, but shots from senior Alissia de Vries (The Hague, Netherlands) were turned away. The Hawkeyes netted their first goal of the day in just the fourth minute with a tip off the stick of Dionne van Aalsum. The home team then added an unassisted tally by Lieve van Kessel and a direct corner goal by van Aalsum to create a 3-0 lead through one quarter.
 
UMass Lowell made necessary adjustments and earned another corner to start the second. This time, junior Cate Kleeman (Gibbsboro, N.J.) inserted to senior Mirthe Gans (Tiel Netherlands), whose clean stick stop set up a hard shot on target by Rozema, cutting the difference to 3-1.
 
After the break, the River Hawk defense prevented Iowa from stretching the lead for the majority of the third quarter. Calandra made a pair of good stops before Aaslum broke through to complete her hat trick for the day.
 
The visitors continued to battle through the fourth, as junior Sydney Grim (Reading, Pa.) and de Vries both tested opposing keeper Mia Magnotta with shots on cage, but she was able to thwart the opportunities. The Hawkeyes then added one more insurance goal in the 59^th minute, once again from Aaslum.
 
The River Hawks will now get set for two home games next week, beginning on Friday, September 15 when they welcome Northeastern to Wicked Blue Field at 3 p.m.