LOWELL, Mass. – Sophomore Madison Leeper (East Amherst, N.Y.) recorded a pair of goals to help lift the UMass Lowell field hockey team (7-2) to a 2-0 victory against Ivy League foe Brown (4-3) on Sunday afternoon.
 
The River Hawks improve to 5-0 at home this year with their fifth shutout so far. As a team, the River Hawks outshot the Bears, 18-5, and took a 7-2 advantage on corners.
 
"Obviously, coming off that big win against Maine, we knew today was going to be tough to get up for, as a non-conference game, so we really talked about how important it was to have consistency in our play, and I thought, overall, our performance was solid," said Head Coach Shannon LeBlanc. "I thought we were maybe a little bit better in the second half when we found some connectivity, which I don't think we were having in that first half."
 
Leeper set a new personal-best with two goals for four points in the contest. Senior Alissia de Vries (The Hague, Netherlands) chipped in with an assist. In the cage, senior Christina Calandra (Manchester, Mass.) picked up the decision, while freshman Marie Oliemans (Driebergen, Netherlands) closed out the shutout with three saves in the second half.
 
The defense for both sides ruled the early minutes of the contest, as neither squad was able to register a shot or corner in the first quarter.
 
The River Hawks finally tallied the first chance of the contest in the 20th minute, as junior Sydney Grim (Reading, Pa.) controlled a long pass and tipped it over to sophomore Isabelle Halters (Noordwijk, Netherlands) for a reverse chip, but her attempt from the wing sailed wide.
 
The teams continued to trade possession, but the home offense slowly started to take control of the momentum, earning a pair of second-quarter corner opportunities before converting on a third. On the scoring play, de Vries fired a hard ball from the top of the circle towards the post for a waiting Leeper, who tipped it on cage to put her team on top, 1-0, heading into the break.
 
Coming out of halftime, UMass Lowell would work to keep the ball in its attacking zone, taking a 6-1 shot advantage in the third quarter. The home team was able to extend its margin to 2-0 in the 40^th minute on another corner play, this time with Leeper finishing her own rebound with a putback.
 
The Bears tested Oliemans in the fourth and final quarter, putting three chances on target, but the rookie keeper held steady to protect the shutout victory.
 
The River Hawks are back home on Friday, September 29 when they welcome Vermont to Wicked Blue Field for an America East Conference matchup at 3 p.m.