CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Five different River Hawks tallied a goal, as the UMass Lowell field hockey team (2-3) defeated Queens (0-4) on the road Friday evening.
 
Tied, 2-2, going into the fourth quarter, the River Hawks logged the final three goals of the night to pull away for good.
 
"We took a bit to play into the game, which wasn't our plan, however I am happy with the fourth quarter performance, which really showed our speed, fitness and ability to finish," said Head Coach Shannon LeBlanc. "Scoring three goals in the fourth quarter was a real bright spot and we are looking forward to building off of that going into Sunday."
 
Sophomore Karlijn Kerkhof (Rotterdam, Netherlands) led the way with one goal and two assists for four points. Senior Madison Leeper (East Amherst, N.Y.) and junior Florine Gerrits (Amstelveen, Netherlands) each added one goal and one assist, while graduate student Aurise Tattrie (Watertown, Mass.) and freshman Holly Beckinsale (Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland) rounded out the goal scorers. Overall, the River Hawks took a 19-4 advantage on shots and an 8-2 edge on corners.
 
Although Delfina Gonzalez put Queens on the board in the sixth minute, the River Hawks battled through the remainder of the first half, registering two shots on goal before forcing a corner with three seconds left on the clock. On that play, Gerrits inserted to Kerkhof, who received it and fired hard on target to force a 1-1 stalemate at the break.
 
UMass Lowell went on the attack to start the third, as Kerkhof dished ahead to Tattrie for the go-ahead goal in the 33rd minute. However, Queens evened the board once again, this time at 2-2 in the 43rd minute on a tally from Jarmilla Richter.
 
The River Hawks retaliated with a corner with just over 30 seconds to go in the third and had an opportunity to jump in front again thanks to a good shot from freshman Rena Pistilli (Lambaré, Paraguay), but the Royals' keeper came up with the stop.
 
The visitors put the pressure on in the fourth, though, tallying two goals in less than a minute. Leeper first came up clutch with a finish on a pass from junior Christina Wagner (Cicero, N.Y.) before Pistilli converted on a corner with assists from Leeper and Kerkhof to help the River Hawks pull away, 4-2, with just over 10 minutes to go.
 
UMass Lowell maintained play in its offensive end in the waning minutes, allowing Beckinsale to get a touch on a ball from sophomore Alice Van Hemelen (Tervuren, Belgium) during a corner play in the final minute, sealing the 5-2 victory.
 
The River Hawks remain in North Carolina for the rest of the weekend, as they are slated to take on Wake Forest on Sunday, September 14 at 12 p.m.