LOWELL, Mass. — Graduate student
Taylor Burgess (Mendon, Mass.) made six saves on the night, as the UMass Lowell women's soccer team (0-1-0) fell, 1-0 to the Warriors of Merrimack (1-0-0) Thursday evening at Cushing Field.
"This is our third game together as a team, so we are still growing as a team", said Head Coach
Mira Novak. "Obviously didn't want to start with a loss, but a positive thing is we played a lot of players and I think individually we saw some good performances."
Graduate student
Calliste Brookshire (Kingston, Mass.) led the River Hawks' offense with four shots on the night, including three on goal. Following behind, senior
Hope Santaniello (Agawam, Mass.), junior
Hilary Jaen (Las Margaritas, Panama) and freshman
Gaby Eckroth (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) chipped in with two shots each.
The opening minutes were a back and forth battle between the two sides, with Merrimack holding a 4-1 shot advantage through 15 minutes. It did not take long for UMass Lowell to find its opportunity, though, firing off five shots in under six minutes, kick started by freshman
Nina Hertz-Saebbo (Gothenburg, Sweden) who drilled a shot that was saved by the Warriors keeper at the 30 minute mark.
Looking to get on the board, Merrimack tallied three shots before the break, but a strong defensive showing by the River Hawks kept the game scoreless heading into the locker room.
Early into the second half, the Warriors ripped a shot at Burgess who was able to get her hands on it, sending it straight into the air. While Burgess was still down, Bella Keogh was trailing and softly headed the ball into the back of the net grabbing the first lead of the contest for Merrimack at 59:30.
Refusing to back down, the River Hawks controlled possession, firing off a plethora of shots at the Merrimack keeper looking to even the score. The best opportunity of the night came for UMass Lowell off of a corner. With the ball sailing into the box, Jaen connected on the pass and launched a hard ball, missing just left of the net with 15 minutes to play.
The River Hawks continued to pressure the Warriors' defense, out-shooting the opposition, 6-0, in the final minutes, but were unable to knot up the score, sealing the 1-0 decision.
Up next, the River Hawks will travel to take on Boston University on Thursday, August 22. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Nickerson Field.
