LOWELL, Mass. – Coming off a shutout in the team's first conference win of the season, the UMass Lowell men's soccer team (6-4-1, 1-1-0 AE) looks to be the first team this year to take down the defending national champions when they visit the #2 Vermont Catamounts (8-0-4, 2-0-0 AE) on Saturday, October 11. Opening kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Virtue Field in Burlington, Vt.

LAST TIME OUT
The River Hawks enter Saturday's match coming off a 1-0 victory over the Binghamton Bearcats last weekend. Junior Ethan Agyare-Danso (Etobicoke, Canada) scored the game-winner in the 81^st minute, with junior Ethan Young (Kansas City, Mo.) earning the primary assist, his first point as a River Hawk, while graduate student Shunnosuke Nakajima (Yokohama, Japan) was tabbed with the secondary assist. In net, graduate student Jorge Ortega (Tijuana B.C., Mexico) earned his first shutout of the season, and as a team, the River Hawks outshot Binghamton, 14-9, including 7-0 in shots on target.

LEADING THE FLOCK
Through 11 games, redshirt sophomore Justin Pham (Liverpool, N.Y.) leads the team with six points off two goals and two assists. Behind him, junior Linus Musielak (Dortmund, Germany) totals two goals and an assist for five points, while senior Junyoung Hwang (Gimpo, South Korea), sophomore Henry Wohlt (Milwaukee, Wis.), and Agyare-Danso each tally a goal and an assist. Sophomore Cristiano Da Silva (Port Coquitlam, British Columbia) is tied for the team lead with two assists, while six other River Hawks total two points. Seniors Mauro Fernandez (Fitchburg, Mass.) and Iñaki Esnaola (Junin, Argentina), and Nakajima represent the three River Hawks to start in 10 of the team's 11 games. In net, the River Hawks have split time between two goalies, with freshman Alvaro Medrano (Guatemala City, Guatemala) making 37 saves and allowing 10 goals in seven starts, while graduate student Jorge Ortega (Tijuana B.C., Mexico) has made 10 saves and allowed five goals in four starts.

RAPID FIRE RIVER HAWKS
So far this season, the River Hawks have excelled at jumping in front early of the opposition, scoring the first goal of the game in all five of their wins. Even more impressive, in three of those wins, they've found the back of the net in less than five minutes. Most recently, Hwang opened the scoring with 4:58 on the clock against CCSU, and although Pham scored the game-winner against Merrimack just over three minutes in, his earliest goal of the year came in the season opener when he struck against Saint Peter's with 1:21 on the clock.

HOT HAND IN NET
In his first year at UMass Lowell, Medrano has made his name known, earning the start in seven of the team's last nine games. In those matches, he has tallied a 4-2-1 record while posting a .787 save percentage, ranking 46^th in the country. Even more impressive, his 37 total saves sit 48^th in Division I, and his 5.29 saves per game sit sixth in the nation and first in the America East.

WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
After making his fourth career start and playing all 90 minutes as a key piece of a defense that held Binghamton scoreless and without a shot on target, sophomore Aamir Ketbache (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) was named the America East Defensive Player of the Week in week seven. The award marks the third of the year for the River Hawks, as Medrano was named both the America East Defensive Player and Rookie of the Week in week two after making 11 saves without allowing a goal in his first two collegiate appearances. Not only did the awards mark the first for UMass Lowell this season, but it is the first time a River Hawk has earned both awards in the same week.

FRESH FACES
Eight of the newest River Hawks have made at least seven appearances so far this season, with three earning at least eight starts. Seven of the team's 12 goals have come off the foot of a newcomer, while six newcomers have accumulated at least 450 minutes of playtime.

CONFERENCE RANKINGS
Entering Thursday morning, the America East is ranked as one of the best conferences in the nation, as it joins the ACC and WCC as the only three conferences to have two teams in the top 10 in RPI. Although Vermont and Bryant are in front of the River Hawks, UMass Lowell is the next highest ranked team in the conference, sitting at 89th in the RPI out of over 200 teams.

SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS
Vermont enters Saturday's match with a 22-game unbeaten streak, the longest in the nation, most recently fighting to a 0-0 draw against Harvard on Tuesday night. The Catamounts' offense is led by Maximilian Kissel, who totals four goals and three assists for 11 points, while David Ismail sits second with four goals and one assist. In net, Niklas Herceg has started all 12 games, making 32 saves while allowing 10 goals, good for a .762 save percentage and an 8-0-4 record.