BURLINGTON, Vt. – Sophomore Karli Penrod (Seaford, Del.) registered the lone goal for her side, as the UMass Lowell field hockey team (7-6, 2-2 AE) faced a 3-1 setback at Vermont (5-7, 2-2 AE) on Friday afternoon.
 
"Clearly Vermont circled this game on their calendar and brought the energy and finishing skills today," said Head Coach Shannon LeBlanc. "We were outplayed and I don't really have any answers for why after a great week of practice and a great game last weekend. Lucky for us, we get to get back on the field tomorrow and get another opportunity on Sunday to win a game."
 
Penrod was joined on the scoresheet by graduate student Alissia de Vries (The Hague, Netherlands), who logged an assist. In the cage, graduate student Christina Calandra (Manchester, Mass.) and sophomore Marie Oliemans (Driebergen, Netherlands) combined for seven saves.
 
The River Hawks attacked first and earned a corner less than two minutes into the contest, but Kerkhof's shot was blocked. The home team quickly moved possession into its offensive end and tested Calandra for the first time on the day. The Catamount followed with four corners in a row, leading to a goal from Sophia Drees in the seventh minute.
 
UMass Lowell worked hard to retaliate, as the team forced an offensive corner of its own in the 14^th minute, allowing Penrod to score the equalizer with a final tip on a ball by de Vries.
 
Both teams fought to get the upper hand throughout the second quarter, with Vermont taking a slight, 4-2 edge on both shots and corners. Both of the River Hawks' corner chances came in the 21^st minute and resulted in a pair of blocked shots by Kerkhof. Calandra then made a strong save in the 25^th minute to help keep the game even at 1-1 heading into the break.
 
The home team quickly broke the stalemate just over three minutes into the second half on another corner goal, this time off the stick of Lotte Kanters.
 
In the 35^th minute, junior Madison Leeper (East Amherst, N.Y.) put a good attempt on target, but it was stopped by Merle Vaandrager. The River Hawks kept up the pressure with consecutive corners, but were unable to find the back of the cage.
 
Senior Maxine Van Havere (Wilrijk, Belgium) fired an attempt that was blocked in the 53^rd minute before Vermont's Meg Weyer added an insurance goal. Oliemans made two saves down the stretch, but the River Hawks could not overcome the 3-1 differential.
 
The River Hawks now head back home to welcome Dartmouth on Sunday, October 20 for Senior Day and Alumni Day. That contest will begin at 2 p.m.