BURLINGTON, VT. – Graduate student Shunnosuke Nakajima (Yokohama, Japan) paced his squad with three shots, as the UMass Lowell men's soccer team (6-4-2, 1-1-1 AE) battled to a 0-0 draw against the #2 Vermont Catamounts (8-0-5, 2-0-1 AE) on Saturday night. The shutout marks the first time a team has held the Catamounts scoreless at home since the 2022 season.

"I'm so proud of my team and staff," said Head Coach Kyle Zenoni. "That is a tough environment to go into and play. We want to win every game, but we will take a point on the road against the reigning national champions and number two team in the country. Overall, I thought it was a good game, and we did a great job limiting their chances. We created some very good opportunities as well. We stayed organized and played the entire 90 minutes, and I am just very proud of the guys and my entire staff. It is a good result for the program."

Nakajima, who put all three of his shots on net, was one of five River Hawks to finish with at least one shot. Right behind him, junior Ethan Young (Kansas City, Mo.) added three shots, two of which were on goal, while sophomore Matteo Costa (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) added three shots as well. Senior Iñaki Esnaola (Junin, Argentina) and sophomore Liam Duggan (Pickering, Ontario) both added a shot. In net, graduate student Jorge Ortega (Tijuana, B.C., Mexico) made one save to post a clean sheet.

The River Hawks came out looking to set the tone early, putting the pressure on the Catamounts early before Nakajima registered the first shot of the match with 3:37 on the clock. Although the hosts answered with two shots of their own, one blocked and one off the post, UMass Lowell ripped two more shots on target, both off the foot of Young, by the 22^nd minute, but Vermont's keeper got his hands on both to keep it a 0-0 game midway through the first.

Throughout the remainder of the half, the visitors continued to keep the ball on the offensive end of the field, logging another pair of shots, including one by both Nakajima and Esnaola. Despite Vermont firing off two more shots in just over a minute, UMass Lowell stayed sharp on defense, preventing both from reaching the net, keeping the game scoreless heading into the break.

Coming out of halftime, the River Hawks picked up where they left off, firing a shot off in the opening minutes, this time off the foot of Costa. The Catamounts, however, started to hit their stride, stringing together three straight shots by the 62^nd minute. Moments later, with 62:19 on the clock, Vermont's David Ismail sprinted past the UMass Lowell defensive line, setting up for the team's best scoring opportunity of the night, but Ortega was up for the challenge, making an unbelievable diving kick save from only a few feet out to keep things scoreless with just over 25 minutes to play.

Just over ten minutes later, the River Hawks responded with a scoring opportunity of their own, beginning with an excellent pass by sophomore Cristiano Da Silva (Port Coquitlam, British Columbia) to Nakajima on the right side of the field. Making his way into the box, Nakajima found an opening, and despite being surrounded by four Vermont defenders, he laced a near-perfect shot towards the bottom left corner of the net, but a diving effort by the opposing keeper prevented it from finding the back of the net. In the final ten minutes, both teams continued to fight, taking two shots each, but neither could find the go-ahead goal, sealing the 0-0 draw.

Next up, the River Hawks wrap up the two-game road trip at NJIT on Saturday, October 18. Opening kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium in Newark, New Jersey.