LOWELL, Mass. – Redshirt sophomore Justin Pham (Liverpool,  N.Y.) and junior Linus Musielak (Dortmund, Germany) each scored a goal, as the UMass Lowell men's soccer team (1-0) took down the Saint Peter's Peacocks (0-1), 2-1, in the season opener on Thursday afternoon.

"It's a first day of the season match," commented Head Coach Kyle Zenoni. "It was sloppy, I would say, on both sides. These types of games you just want to fight and get a result. We have to get sharper as we go, but we had moments that were good and moments that were quite sloppy. It's normal in the first game of the season, but I'm pretty thrilled with the result, that's what it's about."

Pham, who scored the first goal of the match, finished with two shots, including the one on goal, in 53 minutes of action. Musielak, meanwhile, also registered two shots in 41 minutes off the bench. Senior Calvin Scholten (Hengelo, Netherlands) led the team with three shots, including two on goal, while senior Iñaki Esnaola (Junin, Argentina) and sophomores Liam Duggan (Pickering, Ontario) and Santiago Somorrostro (Nashua, N.H.) each added a shot on goal as well.

The River Hawks opened up the season with a bang, scoring a goal less than two minutes in to pull ahead 1-0. After the ball was kicked deep out of the defensive half of the field, redshirt sophomore Justin Pham (Liverpool, N.Y.) raced down the field to intercept a pass between the Peacocks' defender and goalie. With only the goalie in the way, Pham made a quick move to the right, moving past the keeper to easily put the ball in the back of the net and give his squad the early lead.  Following the goal, UMass Lowell continued to put pressure on the visitors' defense, totaling three corners by the fifteenth minute.

Although Saint Peter's started to find their footing, outshooting the hosts 3-1 over the next 25 minutes, the River Hawks refused to budge, not allowing the visitors to get on the board. Only moments later, with 41:34 on the clock, the hosts struck again, this time off the foot of Musielak. Deep in the defensive zone, senior Junyoung Hwang (Gimpo, South Korea) sent a perfect through ball to Musielak, who raced past the remaining defenders before moving past the keeper to bury his first career goal and give the River Hawks a 2-0 advantage heading into the break.

The Peacocks put the pressure on UMass Lowell to start the second half, firing off three corners and three shots in the first ten minutes. The River Hawks were up to the challenge, though, rejecting each opportunity to keep the opposition scoreless through the 60-minute mark. Saint Peter's, however, continued to battle, eventually striking in the 79^th minute, pulling the score within one.

In the final ten minutes, the visitors continued to fight, but UMass Lowell took control, posting two shots to the opponents' one to seal the 2-1 victory.

Next up, the River Hawks host the LIU Sharks on Sunday, August 24. Opening kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Cushing Field.