River Hawks Fight To 2-1 Victory Over Merrimack

Saturday, September 14

North Andover, MA

7PM

University of Massachusetts Lowell

5-1-2, 0-0-0

Merrimack

1-5-0, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
UMass Lowell	1	1	2
Merrimack	0	1	1

9/14/2024 11:26:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Graduate student Guillermo Francés Poquet (Enguera, Valencia) tied his personal best with two goals to lift the UMass Lowell men's soccer team (5-1-2) to a 2-1 victory over the Merrimack Warriors (1-5-0) on Saturday night.

With the win, the River Hawks have tied their best start since the 2018 season.

"I am overly proud of the guys for the performance tonight," said head coach Kyle Zenoni. "We were banged up and needed guys to step up. We had a tough loss against UMass and to see us bounce back the way we did shows how special this team can be. Merrimack is well-coached and hard-working. It is a crosstown rivalry game as well, so it's never an easy match. We did what we needed to get a win, a huge group effort and my staff was awesome managing the game. Now we rest up and prepare for Northeastern."

Francés Poquet, who scored a goal in each half, led the team with two shots on goal. Junior Calvin Scholten (Hengelo, Netherlands) earned a point with an assist on the second goal while adding two shots of his own. Senior Liam Ireland (Yarmouth, Maine) finished with three shots, including one on goal, while junior JR Gawel (Leonardtown, Md.) made six saves in net.

The game opened with the Warriors controlling possession and playing aggressively, tallying the first shot in the third minute. They continued to push, firing off four more shots before the 13th minute, but excellent defensive play by the River Hawks, including three saves by Gawel, kept the hosts off the board. UMass Lowell didn't take long to find its opportunities, logging the next three shots, but the game remained scoreless through 25 minutes.

In the 33rd minute, the River Hawks broke opening the scoring with a goal off the left foot of Francés Poquet. With the ball just outside the right side of the box, senior Yanis Lakhlifi (La Crau, France) angled a pass to the graduate student. Although a Merrimack defender got a foot on it, the ball snuck past him to Francés Poquet, who drilled his shot into the bottom left of the net, giving his squad a 1-0 lead. Looking to even the score, the Warriors rattled off three shots in the final ten minutes, but two more saves by Gawel kept it a one-goal game heading into the break.

It didn't take long for the visitors to add to their lead, as less than two minutes into the second half, Francés Poquet struck again. Moving quickly down the middle of the field, he dished a pass to Scholten who was open on the right side. The junior immediately sent the ball back to the Valencia native, this time right in front of the net. Francés Poquet lifted the ball, sneaking his shot into the top right corner, making it a 2-0 game. Merrimack responded instantly, though, scoring less than two minutes later to cut the Warrior's deficit to one.

Following the goal, the visitors dominated on both ends of the field, firing off a handful of shots while restricting Merrimack to only one over nearly 30 minutes of action. Although the River Hawks held a 7-1 shot advantage in the second half with only 15 minutes to go, the Warriors continued to fight. Looking to find the equalizer in the 77th minute, Merrimack's Samuel Biven sent a shot at the top of the net, but Gawel had an excellent read on the ball, jumping up and rejecting the opportunity. The hosts continued to fight in the final minutes, but UMass Lowell refused to let them even the score, sealing the 2-1 victory.

Next up, the River Hawks have over a week of rest before returning to play when they host Northeastern on Tuesday, September 24. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Cushing Field.