DEDHAM, Mass. – Three different goal scorers led the offense for the UMass Lowell field hockey team (4-5) in a 6-3 setback at Northeastern (4-6) on Sunday.
 
"In general, we had a lackluster and unimpressive performance in the first half," explained Head Coach Shannon LeBlanc. "We turned on the gas a little too late. We will get back to the drawing board on Tuesday to tighten up some details on both sides of the ball so we can be prepared for Bryant."
 
Sophomore Florine Gerrits (Amstelveen, Netherlands) paced the River Hawks with three points on the day, registering her second goal of the season in the first half and adding an assist in the second half. Junior Madison Leeper (East Amherst, N.Y.) and sophomore Karli Penrod (Seaford, Del.) chipped in with one goal apiece. Graduate student Alissia de Vries (The Hague, Netherlands) and freshman Karlijn Kerkhof (Rotterdam, Netherlands) rounded out the stat sheet with one assist each.
 
In the cage, graduate student Christina Calandra (Manchester, Mass.) played the first half, making two saves, to take the decision. Overall, the game was closely contested with the River Hawks having a 10-6 advantage on corners and the Huskies having a 14-11 edge on shots.
 
Less than three minutes into the game, the River Hawks earned a corner and converted on the opportunity, as de Vries fired from the top of circle before Gerrits added a final tip on target to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
 
Northeastern quickly retaliated, though, when Calandra stopped an initial shot from Emilia Adragna, but the rebound went bouncing towards Lauren Rowe, who was able to follow up for the finish, creating a 1-1 stalemate.
 
Rowe would add two more goals on corners in the first half before hitting the post on a third corner play that resulted in a goal for teammate Caroline Sweeney to extend the difference to 4-1 in favor of the Huskies heading into halftime.
 
The River Hawks got to work applying pressure coming out of the break, forcing three consecutive corners, with Leeper finding the back of the cage in diving fashion on the final one to cut the margin in half and make it 4-2 less than five minutes into the third.
 
The teams traded possession for the majority of the fourth quarter before UMass Lowell moved to an empty net with less than six minutes on the clock. The Huskies' Alex Mega would establish a three-goal lead once again with just over four minutes remaining, but the River Hawks did not back down.
 
Second later, Penrod made it 5-3 thanks to an assist from Kerkhof, but Emmy Stubbs was able to score on the empty net on a breakaway inside of the final two minutes to secure the 6-3 outcome.
 
The River Hawks are back home for two games next weekend beginning against America East foe Bryant on Friday, October 4 at 3 p.m.