PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Junior Alex Champagne (Pembroke Pines, Fl.) scored his first goal as a River Hawk, as the UMass Lowell men's soccer (4-3-1) fell to the Brown Bears (4-2), 4-1, on Saturday night.

"Congrats to Brown," said Head Coach Kyle Zenoni. "They are a very good team and I have all the respect in the world for Chase and his coaching staff. I thought it was a very good game for about 60 minutes and then we had some pretty big mistakes and they punished us. That is a good team and you can't afford to lose focus in key moments of the game. I thought we had some very good moments in the game and many positives. We still have a big game Tuesday before we open up with conference play. We will get rested up and prepare for CCSU."

Alongside scoring the goal, Champagne also led the team with three shots and two on target, while junior Ethan Agyare-Danso (Etobiocoke, Canada) recorded an assist for his first point as a River Hawk. Behind Champagne, sophomore Cristiano Da Silva (Port Coquitlam, British Columbia) finished with one shot on goal, while senior Iñaki Esnaola (Junin, Argentina) and junior Linus Musielak (Dortmund, Germany) each added a shot. In net, freshman Alvaro Medrano (Guatemala City, Guatemala) made four saves in the start.

Although the River Hawks logged the first shot of the night just over two minutes into the match, Brown struck first, scoring at the 5:41 mark to take an early 1-0 lead. UMass Lowell responded with haste, though, as Agyare-Danso raced down the right side of the field before dishing a perfect pass to Champagne inside the box. Wasting no time at all, the junior ripped a shot left of the diving keeper, evening the score at 1-1. Trying to answer back, Brown rattled off three straight shots, but a pair of saves by Medrano and a block kept the score the same through the 25^th minute.

Throughout the remainder of the first half, the hosts continued to put pressure on the River Hawks, outshooting the visitors 3-0 in the final 20 minutes. UMass Lowell was up to the challenge, though, making a pair of key saves while holding the Brown Bears scoreless, sending the game into the half tied up at 1-1.

Coming out of the break, the River Hawks dominated possession, not allowing a shot for nearly 15 minutes. Meanwhile, on the offensive end, Champagne nearly found the go-ahead goal, launching a shot to the left end of the net, but Brown's goalie was able to get his hands on it to keep the score the same. Both sides continued the back-and-forth battle, but neither found a strong scoring opportunity heading into the final 20 minutes of action.

With time winding down in the match, the Brown Bears added three goals, sealing the 4-1 decision.

Next up, the River Hawks hit the road for one final non-conference match when they visit the CCSU Blue Devils on Tuesday, September 23. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at CCSU Soccer Field.