WORCESTER, Mass. – The UMass Lowell women's soccer team (1-2-0) faced a 1-0 setback against the Crusaders of Holy Cross (1-3-0) Sunday afternoon on the road at Linda Johnson Smith Soccer Stadium.

"I think we had a few good looks and set pieces, but just didn't fall our way," said Head Coach Mira Novak. "The fact that we just didn't give up and we tried to make things happen was really positive, but obviously we came up short."

Freshman Rachel Welch (Franklin, Mass.) received her first collegiate start in net, making four saves.

UMass Lowell had 11 shots in the outing, while Holy Cross registered 14. Each program earned six corner kicks. Senior Laura Cetina (A Coruña, Galicia, Spain) led the team with three shots on goal, while graduate student Calliste Brookshire (Kingston, Mass.) added two attempts on target, and senior Hope Santaniello (Agawam, Mass.) and sophomore Kaitlyn Tung (Levittown, N.Y.) recorded one apiece.

At the 15-minute mark of the first half, Brookshire ripped a strong shot with her left foot at the top of the box, but the Crusaders' keeper was able to get ahold of the ball, collecting a save to keep the game scoreless.

Another thrilling opportunity came from River Hawks' Cetina in the 24th minute, as she raced by the Crusaders' back line and shoved the ball off her foot towards net, but the opportunity was once again curtailed by the home keeper.

Late in the first half, freshman Mia Eva Girgis (Montreal, Quebec) obtained a long ball on the right side of the field, dashed past the goalkeeper with the ball, but was caught fighting off a defender, sending her shot just right of the goal post.

UMass Lowell finished the first half with noteworthy passing able to connect and find teammates, whereas Holy Cross tended to go with the long ball approach.

Coming out of the break, the Crusaders' Allie Waters stole a River Hawk pass to beat Welch on the dribble, firing off the only goal of the contest at the 46-minute mark.

With 70 minutes already played, the River Hawks' Santaniello broke away from the Holy Cross backline just long enough to rocket a shot off which grazed the top of the net.

UMass Lowell continued to battle and had one last chance with a free kick taken by Brookshire with 30 seconds to go, but the Crusaders keeper came up cleanly with the ball.

The River Hawks will return home to face LSU on Thursday, Aug. 29 with kickoff set for 6 p.m. on Community Night.