NEWARK, N.J. – Sophomore Matteo Costa (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) scored the first goal of his career, as the UMass Lowell men's soccer team (7-4-2, 2-1-1 AE) earned a 1-0 victory over the NJIT Highlanders (3-7-4, 1-2-1 AE) on Saturday afternoon.

"I'm so happy for the program," said Head Coach Kyle Zenoni. "It is another shutout and we found a way to win the game. We have more to give and we need to keep improving, which we will. I got after the guys a bit at halftime and they responded with maturity and class. NJIT is a good team and are very well coached. They gave us some problems in the first half and had to just sort a few things out at halftime. In the second half I thought we came out and really took it to them and deserved to win the game. We have to rest up and prepare for a big game next Saturday. We are just one step closer to our first goal which was to make the postseason. We don't get too high or low, we just need to stay focused and take one match at a time."

Costa's goal, which came in the 84^th minute, was assisted by senior Oliver Holmstrom (Gävle, Sweden). Senior Iñaki Esnaola (Junin, Argentina) and juniors Alex Champagne (Pembroke Pines, Fl.) and Linus Musielak (Dortmund, Germany) all led the team with four shots, each with two shots on target as well. As a team, the River Hawks dominated in total shots, outshooting the Highlanders 25-7 and 13-2 in shots on goal. In net, graduate student Jorge Ortega (Tijuana, B.C., Mexico) earned his third straight shutout with a one-save performance.

The River Hawks came out firing, as Esnaola ripped a shot less than two minutes in that went just right of the net. Although NJIT answered with a shot of their own two minutes later, the visitors controlled the pace of play, firing off the next two shots of the match. Continuing to put pressure on the Highlanders' defense, UMass Lowell put three more shots on net, but a trio of saves by the hosts' keeper kept it scoreless midway through the first.

In the final twenty minutes of the frame, the visitors' strong defensive efforts continued, allowing only one shot by NJIT, which Ortega was quick to get in front of. Meanwhile, the offense remained persistent, keeping the ball in the offensive zone for a significant portion of the time. Despite two more shots by UMass Lowell in the final five minutes of the half, the Highlanders' defense stood strong, keeping the game scoreless heading into halftime.

Coming out of the break, the River Hawks dominated possession, keeping the ball on the offensive end of the field for nearly 10 minutes. During that time, they added three more shots, including their best chance yet when Champagne ripped his third shot of the day, this time just from outside the box, past the hands of the diving keeper, but it rattled off the top crossbar before bouncing back into play. The offensive onslaught continued, outshooting the opposition 5-1 over the next 15 minutes, but the score remained 0-0 heading into the 70^th minute.

With time running out, UMass Lowell took it up a notch on offense, stringing together five straight shots before the 83^rd minute, before earning their best opportunity of the afternoon. With 83:07 on the clock, junior Ethan Agyare-Danso (Etobicoke, Canada) sent a pass to Holmstrom inside the box, who attempted to boot the ball into the back of the net. Although the keeper deflected it, the ball rebounded right to Costa, setting up the junior for the easy tap-in goal, putting his squad up 1-0 with just under seven minutes remaining.

In the final minutes, NJIT attempted to find an equalizer, putting up two more shots, but the River Hawks locked down defensively, sealing the 1-0 victory.

Next up, the River Hawks return home for a two-game homestand, beginning on Saturday, October 25, when they host the UMBC Retrievers. Opening kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Cushing Field.