LOWELL, Mass. – Senior Laura Cetina (A Coruña, Galicia, Spain) recorded her first goal of the season late in the first half, as the UMass Lowell women's soccer team (1-3-0) played to a 1-1 draw with the Rams of Rhode Island (2-2-0) at Cushing Field on Sunday afternoon.

"Disappointed, but the highlight was that we scored a goal when we were down," said Head Coach Mira Novak. "We tried to push forward, but I think our performance today just didn't click."

The River Hawks outshot the Rams by one on the day, 12-11. Cetina led the way with three shots in the contest. Junior Hilary Jaén (Las Margaritas, Panama) added an assist, as well.

On the defensive end, graduate student Taylor Burgess (Mendon, Mass.) made five saves in net, increasing her save percentage on the season to .844.

It was a slow start offensively for both teams in the first half, as the defenses were locked in and did not allow a shot on either end for more than 20 minutes. It was not until the first corner kick for UMass Lowell in the 22^nd minute when Cetina tallied the first chance of the contest with a hard strike to the left side of the net, but the Rams' keeper was able to make the save.

URI followed with two shots in a row between the 25^th and 27^th-minute mark, giving Burgess some work, but the River Hawk keeper extinguished the opportunities without a problem.  

In the 31^st minute, Rhode Island's McKenna Sylvester was stopped in traffic at the top of the box by River Hawk defenders, but quickly shoveled a pass towards teammate Jill Rosenfeld, who was able to launch the ball into the top left corner of the net.

The River Hawks used this as fuel to answer back in the 39^th minute, as Jaén (Las Margaritas, Panama) floated the ball forward, finding the head of Cetina, who propelled it into the back of the net, evening the score at 1-1.

After the break, UMass Lowell and Rhode Island would go shot for shot, looking to break the tie.

At the 84^th-minute mark, Cetina continued to be an offensive threat, blasting a shot that went just high of the goal. 

Graduate student Calliste Brookshire (Kingston, Mass.) was tackled in the 89^th minute, earning herself a free kick. Brookshire placed the ball in the box towards sophomore Luka Marceau (Newton, Mass.), who was able to get a head on the ball, but it went a touch left of the goal. This was the River Hawk's last try on net of the afternoon, as they were unable to take the lead, ending the contest at 1-1.

"I'm looking forward to resting up for a couple of days, allowing the players to recover and then hopefully have good training for the next stretch of games, and be able to put together a little bit better performance next Sunday at CCSU," added Novak.

The River Hawks will be on the road Sunday, September 8 for a match against Central Connecticut State University with a 2 p.m. kickoff.