SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The UMass Lowell field hockey team (5-5, 1-0 AE) held Bryant (2-7, 0-1 AE) without a shot for the final three quarters in a 3-1 victory on Friday afternoon to open America East Conference action.
"It's always great to get a tough conference win on the road," said Head Coach
Shannon LeBlanc. "The winning result was directly correlated to the work the team put into training this week. They earned the win."
Three different River Hawks scored unassisted goals in the decision, as sophomores
Karlijn Kerkhof (Rotterdam, Netherlands) and
Alice Van Hemelen (Tervuren, Belgium), as well as freshman
Rena Pistilli (Lambaré, Paraguay) each tallied points.
The River Hawks went to work right away, controlling possession on their offensive end. The team registered a pair of corners in the early minutes, but an attempt from Kerkhof was blocked and Van Hemelen hit the post. Bryant was able to break open the scoring first, however, on a reverse stick hit from Callie Caito in the 13
th minute to make it 1-0.
Kerkhof and junior
Florine Gerrits (Amselveen, Netherlands) each sent a shot wide in the first two minutes of the second quarter, as UMass Lowell continued to pressure to get on the board. After extinguishing a Bulldog corner, the River Hawks earned a penalty stroke in the 22
nd minute, as Pistilli capitalized to even the score at 1-1. Less than three minutes later, the visitors were back on the attack and this time Kerkhof put a diving shot on target to give her side a 2-1 edge heading into the break.
Coming out of halftime, the River Hawks earned a corner with good chances from junior
Karli Penrod (Seaford, Del.) and Van Hemelen, but the home keeper came up with the stops.
The defense for both sides kept play contained to the middle of the field for the remainder of the third quarter until Van Hemelen stole the ball from a defender and fired a turnaround shot past the Bryant keeper to an insurance goal in the 47
th minute, helping to secure a 3-1 outcome.
The River Hawks wrap up a three-game road swing on Sunday, Oct. 5 at Dartmouth. That contest is slated to begin at 12 p.m.
