AMHERST, Mass. – Sophomore goalkeeper Marie Oliemans (Driebergen, Netherlands) registered a career-high 15 saves after halftime in what would be a 4-3 overtime setback for the No. 20 UMass Lowell River Hawks (3-3) at Massachusetts (4-2) in the 2024 installment of the Kennedy Cup on Sunday afternoon.
 
Three corners and a penalty stroke goal by Elena Cloconeanu all after time expired in regulation set up overtime. The River Hawks were able to neutralize three more Minutewomen corners in the opening minutes of the extra period despite being shorthanded. However, Claire Danahy would track down a ball rolling away from the cage and fire on the run into the bottom left corner for the golden goal in the 64^th minute.
 
"We played a fantastic first half, which is exactly the hockey we have been looking to play," explained Head Coach Shannon LeBlanc. "Into the second half we played on our heels, which allowed UMass to gain momentum. The game was intense and high-paced and everyone needed to keep up with the speed of play, which was lacking for some. We also had some uncharacteristic moments that caused us to have to start overtime two players down. Not an easy place to be, especially for our goalkeeper Marie, who essentially stood on her head for 35 minutes. Overall, it was a tough loss for us today, but on a happier note, the first half really told us how good we can be if we can put together a full 60 minutes."
 
The River Hawks' defensive corner unit was tested an NCAA season-record 30 times in the outing, allowing just one goal on those chances.
 
Sophomore Karli Penrod (Seaford, Del.) paced the River Hawk offense with two goals, marking her first career multi-goal game. Junior Madison Leeper (East Amherst, N.Y.) chipped in with one goal of her own and freshman Karlijn Kerkhof (Rotterdam, Netherlands) finished with two assists. Graduate student Christina Calandra (Manchester, Mass.) also added two saves in the first half.
 
The River Hawks successfully fended off a pair of early corners from the Minutewomen before taking possession into their offensive end and converting on a corner opportunity, when Kerkhof fired hard from the top of the circle towards the right wing where Leeper was waiting for a perfectly placed redirect.
 
Calandra made a nice kick save on another corner in the eighth minute, keeping the difference at 1-0. The teams would battle back-and-forth in the midfield and trade possession for the next several minutes. The Minutewomen then forced the ball into their end and fired a pair of shots wide, but it would be the River Hawks that struck again next to extend the lead to 2-0, as Penrod forced a turnover inside the circle and made a great move around the opposing keeper for a backhanded shot on target in the 24^th minute.
 
In the waning minutes of the first half, Calandra batted away a hard, reverse-stick chip, but Danahy was able to crash the cage and tip in the rebound to cut the difference to 2-1 heading into the break.
 
Coming out of halftime, the sides traded corners in the opening minutes with Oliemans making her first stop of the day. In the 36^th minute, Kerkhof would get the ball in transition and dribble into the circle before firing a reverse-stick laser across the cage and by the opposing keeper for the tip in from the post by Penrod, making it 3-1.
 
Oliemans continued to handle pressure from the home team, collecting six more consecutive saves, including an incredibly impressive stop on a slapshot from the top of the circle in the 55^th minute.
 
The home team pulled its keeper in favor of the extra offensive player for the last five minutes of regulation. In that time, UMass Amherst garnered a string of four corners that resulted in a goal by Elani Sherwood, closing the gap to just one, 3-2, in the final seconds. The Minutewomen would force one more corner with two seconds on the clock, leading to the extended end of regulation and overtime period.
 
The River Hawks are scheduled for just one game next week, when they will host Wake Forest of the ACC on Sunday, September 22 at 12 p.m.