LOWELL, Mass. – Freshman Rena Pistilli (Lambaré, Paraguay) logged her first career goals, as the UMass Lowell field hockey team (1-3) dropped a 3-2 overtime heartbreaker at Yale (2-0) on Sunday.

"This was a tough battle against a seasoned and fast Yale team," said Head Coach Shannon LeBlanc. "It was a good bounce back performance after Friday, but still not good enough for a win."
 
Pistilli tallied both goals for UMass Lowell in the contest, while sophomore Karlijn Kerkhof (Rotterdam, Netherlands) and senior Madison Leeper (East Amherst, N.Y.) logged two assists apiece. Freshman goalkeeper Veerle Mous (Breda, Netherlands) finished with six saves, as well.
 
The Bulldogs pressured in the opening minutes, registering the first three shots of the day, including two that were kicked away by Mous. Both teams played at a fast pace throughout the opening quarter, as the home side added one more shot in the final seconds on a corner attempt, but the River Hawk defense thwarted the opportunity to keep the game scoreless.
 
Yale was able to break open the scoring in 23^rd minute, however, when Emma Ramsey dibbled through traffic into the side of the circle before firing a reverse stick hit that skidded under the foot of Mous to make it 1-0.
 
The River Hawks retaliated with back-to-back corner attempts with a good chance on target from Kerkhof that took a Bulldog defensive save to stop. Kerkhof was then awarded a penalty stroke, but the keeper batted her ball out of the air before it could find the top corner.
 
Yale would try to extend its lead before the break with eight shots, but the UMass Lowell defense was unphased, keeping the visitors within one at halftime.
 
The River Hawk offense went on the attack to start the second half, earning two corners before converting on the third, as Kerkhof inserted to Leeper, who made the stick stop to set up Pistilli to fire into the back of the cage and even the score at 1-1 in the 36^th minute. The visitors then survived five consecutive Bulldog shots before regaining possession, forcing two more corners and allowing Pistilli to score again in the exact same fashion, this time in the 42^nd minute, pulling in front, 2-1.
 
The Bulldogs looked for the equalizer with the next five shots in a row. The home team was able to knot the game at 2-2 in the 53^rd minute on a penalty stroke by Hettie Whittington.
 
The teams battled throughout the rest of regulation, trading four shots apiece down the stretch to force overtime. In the extra minutes, sophomore Alice Van Hemelen (Tervuren, Belgium) had a shot blocked, but the deciding goal would come in the 65^th minute on a corner when Whittington stopped the ball at the top of the circle and set her feet for a slapshot that sped straight into the cage to end the game in 3-2 fashion.
 
The River Hawks continue their road trip at Queens on Friday, September 12 beginning at 5 p.m.