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MSOC Alumni Night 2024
1
Holy Cross HC (1-2-1, 0-0-0)
2
Winner UMass Lowell UML (4-0-2, 0-0-0)
Holy Cross HC
(1-2-1, 0-0-0)
1
Final
2
UMass Lowell UML
(4-0-2, 0-0-0)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Holy Cross HC 0 1 1
UMass Lowell UML 0 2 2

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9/11/2024 | 4PM

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Sep. 11 (Wed) / 4PM
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History

Game Recap: Men's Soccer |

River Hawks Use Two Goals in a Minute to Beat Holy Cross, 2-1

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LOWELL, Mass. – Junior Iñaki Esnaola (Junin, Argentina) scored his first goal of the season, as the UMass Lowell men's soccer team (4-0-2) earned a hard-fought win over the Holy Cross Crusaders (1-2-1), 2-1, on Alumni Night.

"Instate always makes for a tough game," said head coach Kyle Zenoni. "Holy Cross always seems to give us a match. I thought we had a better game and most of the time pinned them in their own half. They scored a nice goal on a corner at the end which made the game interesting."

Esnaola, whose goal came off a penalty kick early in the second half, also led his squad with three shots, including two on goal. Senior Yanis Lakhlifi (La Crau, France) chipped in with his second goal of the season, which proved to be the game-winning score. Contributing with an assist on Lakhlifi's was graduate student Guillermo Francés Poquet (Enguera, Valencia), his third point in the last two games. In net, junior JR Gawel (Leonardtown, Md.) made a save in the start.

The game started as a back-and-forth battle, with both teams fighting for possession at midfield in the opening minutes. Holy Cross won the early battle though, logging the first shot of the game in the 10th minute. The River Hawks, however, were quick to take control of the game, logging a shot less than two minutes later. UMass Lowell kept the pressure, firing off four more before the 30th minute to take a 5-2 shot advantage with 15 minutes remaining in the first.

In the final 15 minutes of the half, the Crusaders started to find their footing, taking control and firing off three shots in nine minutes. The hosts were up to the challenge, playing lockdown defense to prevent Holy Cross from getting any of their opportunities on the net. With under a minute remaining in the half, the River Hawks had one last chance to break open the scoring, but a shot by senior Jonathan Ferreira (Ashland, Mass.) was blocked by the opposition, keeping it a 0-0 game through the first 45.

The River Hawks got to work early in the second half, as Esnaola tallied his first shot on goal of the night in the 50th minute, but the keeper made a diving save to keep the game scoreless. The Argentina native got another chance only moments later though, and made sure to capitalize. After a foul by the visitors put Esnaola at the line with a penalty kick opportunity, the junior launched his shot straight away, flying past the diving keeper and giving UMass Lowell a 1-0 lead. The score didn't stay for long though, as only 23 seconds later, the River Hawks struck again. This time, Holy Cross looked to move the ball out of their defensive zone, but Francés Poquet dashed towards midfield, intercepting the pass before racing towards the net. The grad student placed a perfect through ball between two defenders, right to Lakhlifi, who ripped the shot past the goalie for the team's second goal in the 56th minute.

Despite holding a two-goal advantage, UMass Lowell didn't slow, continuing to pressure the Crusader's defenses while restricting their offense to zero shots over the next 20 minutes. However, in the 78th minute, the visitors finally got on the board, using a shot off the foot of Julian Beban to make it a one-score game with just over 10 minutes to play. The River Hawks didn't allow them another opportunity, out shooting Holy Cross 4-0 in the final minutes to seal the 2-1 victory.

Next up, the River Hawks go back on the road to take on Massachusetts on Wednesday, September 11. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. at Rudd Field.
 
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Players Mentioned

Jonathan Ferreira

#7 Jonathan Ferreira

F
5' 9"
Junior
Yanis Lakhlifi

#14 Yanis Lakhlifi

F
6' 1"
Junior
JR Gawel

#32 JR Gawel

GK
5' 11"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Jonathan Ferreira

#7 Jonathan Ferreira

5' 9"
Junior
F
Yanis Lakhlifi

#14 Yanis Lakhlifi

6' 1"
Junior
F
JR Gawel

#32 JR Gawel

5' 11"
Junior
GK