LOWELL, Mass. – Senior Oscar Perez (Sagunto, Spain) scored his first goal of the season, as the UMass Lowell men's soccer team (7-6-2, 2-3-1 AE) fell to the New Hampshire Wildcats (5-6-4, 3-2-1 AE), 2-1, in the regular season home finale.

"It's disappointing," said Head Coach Kyle Zenoni. "I thought we didn't play well enough in the first half at all and gave up two goals. Second half we played a lot better, I think obviously it's quite windy, so it made it difficult going into the wind in the first half. Second half, like I said, was a lot better, but it's disappointing."

Perez, whose goal came off a penalty kick, was one of five River Hawks to record a shot on the night. Leading the way in shots was senior Iñaki Esnaola (Junin, Argentina), who finished with three on the night, while Perez and junior Linus Musielak (Dortmund, Germany) each added two with one on goal. Rounding things out, sophomore Cristiano Da Silva (Port Coquitlam, British Columbia) added a shot on goal, and junior Alex Champagne (Pembroke Pines, Fl.) added a shot. In net, graduate student Jorge Ortega (Tijuana B.C., Mexico) made a save in 90 minutes of action.

New Hampshire came out firing on the offensive end, registering the first shot of the game in the fourth minute before scoring a goal just under three minutes later. Although UMass Lowell stayed strong on defense, preventing another shot by the visitors until the 18^th minute, the Wildcats found the back of the net again, this time on a penalty kick, to take a 2-0 lead at 17:59.

Looking to battle back from the early deficit, the River Hawks put in the work defensively, allowing only two New Hampshire shots for the remainder of the half. Meanwhile, the offense started to find its footing, beginning with a shot by Musielak in the 23^rd minute. The shots by the hosts didn't stop there, though, as they kept the pressure on the Wildcats with three straight shots. In the final minutes of the period, Esnaola nearly put his squad on the board, breaking down the field before juking past two defenders, but his near-perfect shot bounced just off the right post, keeping it a 2-0 game heading into the break.

UMass Lowell opened the second half strong, as Perez drew a foul in the box, setting the senior up with a penalty kick which he promptly buried into the back of the net, cutting the deficit to 2-1 with 46:12 on the clock. Despite the next two shots of the game coming off the foot of a Wildcat, UMass Lowell stood strong, keeping New Hampshire from recording another shot for the next 23 minutes. On the offensive end, Musielak almost found the equalizer in the 66^th minute, directing his shot toward the bottom right corner of the goal, but a save by the visiting keeper kept UMass Lowell from scoring.

In the final 20 minutes, the River Hawks continued to fight, outshooting the Wildcats 2-1 over the period, but were unable to find the game-tying goal, sealing the 2-1 decision.

Next up, the River Hawks hit the road for the final game of the regular season, as they take on the UAlbany Great Danes on Tuesday, November 4. The game is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. at Bob Ford Field in Albany, New York.