LOWELL, Mass. – With the fall quickly approaching, the UMass Lowell men’s soccer team is ready to get to work and kick off the 2025 season. Led by Head Coach Kyle Zenoni, the River Hawks will look to build off last season and battle in one of the toughest conferences in the country as they look to earn a spot in the America East Tournament. The 2025 season begins on Thursday, August 21, when the River Hawks host Saint Peter’s on Senior Day.

For the first time as the leader of the program, Zenoni’s roster will feature four seniors who have been with him from the start. Seniors Oscar Perez (Sagunto, Spain), Oliver Holmstrom (Gävle, Sweden), Iñaki Esnaola (Junin, Argentina), and Mauro Fernandez (Fitchburg, Mass.) all came to UMass Lowell as freshmen in 2022 and will now take on a major leadership role. Alongside them, Zenoni will look to all of his returners, including graduate students Kotaro Natsume (Toyohashi, Japan) and Shunnosuke Nakajima (Yokohama, Japan), to help guide the team through the ups and downs of a rigorous season. 

“(I’ll look to) all the returning guys for leadership, but there’s a core of guys that have been with me since they were freshmen, and they survived everything," said Zenoni. "It will be a pretty emotional year for me. Every year is obviously emotional, but this year in particular, because it’s the full cycle, and there are some guys that have been here a long time. We’ve had some ups and downs, but to see them grow as people is the most important thing for me, and for me it’s pretty special.” 

The River Hawks return three of their top point scorers from last season, including Holmstrom, who tallied four goals in the 2024 campaign, including three game-winners, tied for 40th in the nation. Right behind him, senior Calvin Scholten (Hengelo, Netherlands) was a dynamic piece for UMass Lowell off the bench, registering two goals and two assists in 16 appearances. Rounding out the trio, Esnaola paced the squad last year with three assists, while also adding a goal against Holy Cross.

Beyond the points, the team also returns four key midfielders, led by Nakajima and Fernandez, who have each tallied at least 1,000 minutes and combined to miss only one game over the last two seasons. Following an impressive freshman campaign, sophomore Matteo Costa (Frankfurt am Main, Germany), who was a two-time America East Rookie of the Week and America East All-Rookie Team selection, will look to make another leap forward in year two. Meanwhile, sophomore Cristiano Da Silva (Port Coquitlam, British Columbia) returns for his sophomore season after scoring a goal and totaling 550 minutes in only seven starts. 

The team also returns two mainstays on the defensive line in Perez and Natsume. A key member of the team since joining as a freshman, Perez has started 35 of his 43 appearances with over 3,200 minutes of action. Alongside him, Natsume totals 19 starts in 30 appearances and has accumulated nearly 1,900 minutes of playing time in only two seasons.

After opening up the season against Saint Peter’s, the River Hawks will face a quick turnaround when they host LIU on August 24. The team then heads south to play Houston Christian (Aug. 28) and the University of the Incarnate Word (Aug. 31) before a quick visit to Holy Cross (Sep. 6). Finally, UMass Lowell returns home for in-state battles against Massachusetts (Sep. 10) and Merrimack (Sep. 16) before visiting Brown (Sep. 20) and CCSU (Sep. 23) to wrap up nonconference play. 

The River Hawks will kick off America East action on the road on Sunday, September 28, when they visit Bryant, before returning home the following week for a match against the Binghamton Bearcats (Oct. 4). The squad then hits the road for two games, starting against the defending national champion Vermont Catamounts (Oct. 11) before heading to New Jersey to battle NJIT (Oct. 18). Finally, they wrap up the regular season with two at home against UMBC (Oct. 25) and New Hampshire (Oct. 31) before closing the season out at UAlbany (Nov. 4).