ALBANY, N.Y. – Sophomore Marissa Sage (Milford, N.H.) and freshman Mia Eva Girgis (Montreal, Quebec) scored their first career goals, as UMass Lowell (1-9-2, 0-3-0 AE) fell, 3-2, on the road at UAlbany (2-9-1, 1-2-1 AE) in America East Conference action at Bob Ford Field on Sunday evening.

"We wanted to have a strong start today. We wanted to start on the front foot, but unfortunately, we found ourselves down very early on, conceding two goals within 20 seconds," said Head Coach Mira Novak. "We went into the second half with nothing to lose. The team kept pushing and didn't give up, and I'm happy that we scored two goals."

Graduate student Taylor Burgess (Mendon, Mass.) made five saves in goal today.

The River Hawks outshot the Great Danes, 23-14. Graduate student Calliste Brookshire (Kingston, Mass.) took seven shots on the day, the most in a single game for her this season. Six other River Hawks followed with two shots apiece.

Senior Emma Mitchell (West Orange, N.J.) would apply pressure early for the River Hawks, as she ripped a shot from the right side that soared over the net in the seventh minute.

UAlbany recorded its first goal of the game in the 10^th minute, when Madison Hnis broke away from a pair of River Hawk defenders, and was then able to cross over the final River Hawk to find the back of the net and grab the 1-0 lead for the Great Danes.

Seconds later, UAlbany caught UMass Lowell off balance and put in the second goal of the match scored by Selma Elverum.

The River Hawks got to work on making a comeback. Junior Hilary Jaén (Las Margaritas, Panama) restarted the River Hawk offense with a header in the 13^th minute that drifted over the top of the net. Sage followed with an attempt just wide in the 15^th minute.

UAlbany secured its lead in the 43^rd minute, as Sophia DeMura escaped the River Hawks and rushed upfield to go 1-v-1 with Burgess, swiftly tapping in a ball to make it 3-0 in favor of the home team.

UMass Lowell came out of the break controlling possession, as 16 of the River Hawks shots were taken in the final 45 minutes.

In the 48^th minute, sophomore Diana Jedrychowski (Farmington, Conn.) had a great chance as she crashed the net on the corner kick but just missed, sending the ball wide of the post. 

Brookshire followed this with a shot in the 51^st minute, forcing the Great Danes' keeper to make a diving save, resulting in a corner for UMass Lowell. Two River Hawks' shots would come from the corner kick, as junior Megan Banzi (Plymouth, Mass.) was first and junior Maija Hodson (Sault Saint Marie, Ontario) added a shot of her own.

Brookshire continued to push for a goal, as she had her best opportunity yet, ricocheting off the post in the 65^th minute.

Jaén was able to creep into the box in the 72^nd minute, blasting a shot at the net, with the keeper just barely getting her fingertips on the ball to make the save. Three minutes later, she knocked a header between the keeper's legs, but the Great Dane quickly spun around to complete the save in the 75^th minute.

The first UMass Lowell goal was scored by Sage from deep in the 87th minute, with assists credited to Girgis and Brookshire to cut the difference to 3-1.

At the buzzer, Sage sent a ball at the keeper, but Girgis collected the rebound off of the save to poke in the final goal of the contest, sealing the 3-2 outcome.

The River Hawks return home for a Sunday matinee on October 13, kicking off at 1 p.m. versus Vermont and raising awareness to breast cancer.