NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – Freshman Gaby Eckroth (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) recorded her second goal of the season, as the UMass Lowell women's soccer team (1-3-2) played to a 1-1 tie with the Blue Devils of Central Connecticut State (0-5-1) at the CCSU Soccer Field on Sunday afternoon.  

"We went up in the first half after a good cross from Cal and a solid finish from Gaby," said Head Coach Mira Novak. "I felt that we could've created more opportunities in the first half, we were just not able to use them. I think in the second half the plan for us was to come out and try to score the second goal. We had a decent start, but our inability to make good decisions in the final third cost us. We're leaving here with a little bit of a sour taste in our mouths because we were not able to execute and have enough quality in the final third." 

Graduate student Taylor Burgess (Mendon, Mass.) finished the contest with six saves. 

UMass Lowell outshot Central Connecticut by two, 12-10. Eckroth led the way for the River Hawks with three shots on the day, while senior Laura Cetina (A Coruña, Galicia, Spain) followed behind with two.  

At the 20-minute mark, sophomore Luka Marceau (Newton, Mass.) handled the ball with her right foot, booting it at the CCSU keeper, who was able to get her body in front of the shot to make the save, but her deflection remained in play. As the ball was still bouncing around in the box, sophomore Diana Jedrychowski (Farmington, Conn.) notched a shot, resulting in another Blue Devil save.  

Freshman Mia Eva Girgis (Montreal, Quebec) tested the keeper with a shot just left of the post 35 minutes into the match, catching a Blue Devil defender before going out of play to earn a River Hawks' corner.  

In the 39th minute, graduate student Calliste Brookshire (Kingston, Mass.) dribbled past the Blue Devils' defenders on the left side of the box to then strike the ball at the keeper. The ball ricocheted off the hands of CCSU's goalie, allowing Eckroth to capitalize and bury the ball in the back of the net, giving UMass Lowell the 1-0 advantage just before the break. 

Coming out of halftime, a UMass Lowell corner in the 49th minute resulted in a strong shot from sophomore Kaitlyn Tung (Levittown, N.Y.), which sailed just high of the net.  

Sabrina Krause was the Blue Devil to even the score at 1-1 at the 75th-minute mark, launching the ball just over the fingertips of Burgess with an assist from Gia Edwards, who had stolen the ball in the midfield from the River Hawks.

The River Hawks continued to battle for the upper hand all the way to the final whistle. Senior Kelli Buckley (Shrewsbury, Mass.) produced a rocket of a shot in the 89th minute, keeping the Central Connecticut keeper on her toes, having to make a leaping save.  

The last chance for UMass Lowell came with 12 seconds left on a corner kick. The ball flew into the box, but the River Hawks could not profit from the kick. 

"We have a tough game at home versus Stony Brook coming up who will challenge us in a number of ways, and we will be going to Massachusetts on Sunday who are doing really well," added Novak. "I don't think that the performance that we put in today will be enough for either of those games, so we have a few days to train and adjust a few things to make sure that as we approach conference play, we can find ways to score and produce more." 

Up next, the River Hawks are back home for a Thursday evening contest on September 12 versus Stony Brook with a 5:00 p.m. kickoff at Cushing Field, raising awareness to Morgan's Message.