LOWELL, Mass. – With just one game remaining in the regular season, the UMass Lowell men's soccer team (7-6-2, 2-3-1 AE) travels to UAlbany (5-6-4, 3-2-1 AE) for the team's final game of the regular season on Tuesday, November 4. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
The River Hawks enter Tuesday coming off a 2-1 loss to New Hampshire on Friday night. In that match, three River Hawks finished with at least two shots, with senior Iñaki Esnaola (Junin, Argentina) leading the way with three shots. Senior Oscar Perez (Sagunto, Spain) and junior Linus Musielak (Dortmund, Germany) both added two shots, including one on goal, with Perez scoring early in the second half on a penalty kick. Junior Alex Champagne (Pembroke Pines, FL) and junior Cristiano Da Silva (Port Coquitlam, British Columbia) added one shot with Da Silva's being on target.

LEADING THE FLOCK
Through 14 games, redshirt sophomore Justin Pham (Liverpool, N.Y.) leads the team with six points off two goals and two assists. Behind him, Musielak totals two goals and an assist for five points, while seniors Junyoung Hwang (Gimpo, South Korea) and Oliver Holmstrom (Gävle, Sweden), sophomore Henry Wohlt (Milwaukee, Wis.), and junior Ethan Agyare-Danso (Etobicoke, Canada) each tally a goal and an assist. Da Silva is tied with Pham and graduate student Shunnouke Nakajima (Yokohama, Japan) for the team lead with two assists, while six other River Hawks total two points. Senior Mauro Fernandez (Fitchburg, Mass.), Esnaola, and Nakajima represent the three River Hawks to start in 14 of the team's 15 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 13 saves and allowed nine goals in eight starts, including posting a stretch of three straight shutouts.

PLAYOFF POSITIONING
After results around the league on Friday night, the River Hawks clinched a playoff berth for the first time under Head Coach Kyle Zenoni. There's still work to be done, though, as Tuesday's match against UAlbany will play a pivotal role in the team's seeding.

SHUTOUT STREAK
Ahead of the season, Coach Zenoni emphasized the need for good defensive play to find success in conference play. So far, so good, as the River Hawks posted clean sheets in three straight conference matches, the longest shutout streak by the team since recording five straight during the 2019 season, and the longest streak in conference play since posting three straight to close out the 2017 season.

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 seven 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 their first years at UMass Lowell, the River Hawks' goalkeeping duo has made their names known. Medrano, who has earned the start in seven of the team's 13 games, has compiled a 4-2-1 record while posting a .787 save percentage. His 5.29 saves per game sit seventh in the nation and first in the America East as well. Ortega, meanwhile, has earned the start in the team's last five games, posting three clean sheets to help the team earn seven points in conference play. On the season, the graduate student has allowed nine goals in eight games for a  1.13 goals against average.

WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
In week eight, after playing the entire game and serving as a key member of the defense that held #2 Vermont scoreless at home for the first time since 2022, Nakajima was tabbed the America East Defensive Player of the Week. The award marks the fourth of the year for the River Hawks, as only a week prior, after making his fourth career start and playing all 90 minutes while helping hold 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. Earlier in the season, 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 two awards mark the first for UMass Lowell on the season, but it is the first time a River Hawk has earned both awards in the same week.

FRESH FACES 
Four of the newest River Hawks have made at least 13 appearances so far this season, with two earning at least nine starts. Seven of the team's 14 goals have come off the foot of a newcomer, while four newcomers have accumulated at least 700 minutes of playtime.

CONFERENCE RANKINGS
Entering Thursday morning, the America East is ranked as one of the best conferences in the nation, as it is the only conference with two teams in the top five of the RPI. Although Vermont, Bryant, and UAlbany are ahead of the River Hawks, UMass Lowell is the next highest-ranked team in the conference, sitting at 102nd in the RPI out of over 200 teams.

SCOUTING THE GREAT DANES
UAlbany enters Tuesday's match coming off a 2-0 loss to Vermont on Friday night, only their second loss in conference play. Leading the way for the team offensively is Ivar Gissuararson, who totals four goals and two assists for ten points in 14 games. Behind him, Rodrigo Hermelo sits second with two goals and three assists for seven points, while 11 other Great Danes have at least two points. In net, three goaltenders have seen time, with Andrej Krivokapic playing the most, earning 10 starts while allowing nine goals, good for a .775 save percentage with a total of 31 saves.

MATCHUP HISTORY
UMass Lowell and UAlbany have faced off 14 times, with UAlbany holding a slight, 7-6-1 edge. Last year, the two teams battled at Lowell, where the River Hawks earned a 2-0 win to open conference play.