River Hawks Fall to New Hampshire in Thursday Night Thriller

Thursday, October 22

Lowell, Mass.

6PM

University of Massachusetts Lowell

4-6-4, 1-2-3

New Hampshire

4-8-2, 1-5-0

Team	1	2	Final F
New Hampshire	0	4	4
UMass Lowell	1	2	3

UMass Lowell Women's Soccer Huddles before a match

10/22/2026 8:53:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell women's soccer team (4-6-4, 1-2-3 AE) fell to New Hampshire (4-8-2, 1-5-0 AE) 4-3 on Thursday night, scoring twice in the span of three minutes to storm back from a 3-1 deficit in the last 10 minutes before the Wildcats won it in the 88th minute.

Staring down a two-goal gap, the River Hawks offense ignited late. Sophomore Nora Belin (Stockholm, Sweden) broke away for a goal at 84 minutes to cut the gap in half. Just three minutes later, she assisted redshirt freshman Elsa Freeman (Portland, Maine), who equalized with her first career goal.

"The result was disappointing for us," said Head Coach Mira Novak. "We made mistakes that we got punished for, and then we had to come back. I give the team a lot of credit for fighting back and scoring two goals in the last 10 minutes to make the game even."

With two assists against New Hampshire, Belin tied Calliste Brookshire for UMass Lowell's single-season Division I record. Her assist tally is now at eight this year.

Belin's first assist came on the opening goal, as she and senior Franzisca Sinclair (Frankfurt, Germany) fed sophomore Nina Hertz-Saebbö to go up 1-0 in the first half. After her seventh goal of the year, Hertz-Saebbö is now tied for sixth in single-season goals in the program's DI history.

Belin and Hertz-Saebbö are now tied for the team lead with 16 points, which is good for seventh in the DI single-season records. Belin recorded four shots, while Hertz-Saebbö fired off two. As a team, the River Hawks set a season-high with 18 total shots.

Neither team recorded a shot on goal until the 11th minute, when the Wildcats forced a diving save from junior Rachel Welch (Franklin, Mass.). However, the River Hawk offense kicked into gear soon after.

At 16 minutes, an errant New Hampshire pass went straight to Sinclair, who dished it out to Belin. Belin found Hertz-Saebbö, who dashed down the field and scored to make it 1-0.

The UMass Lowell offense continued applying pressure, finishing the first half with seven shots and four corners. However, they couldn't add to the lead, going to the break up 1-0.

Early in the second half, the Wildcats equalized off the foot of Madison Donati. UMass Lowell came back with a sense of urgency, pushing the ball down the field. At 51 minutes, senior Eliana Parreira (Chelmsford, Mass.) unleashed a shot that hit right off the crossbar.

The Wildcats added on in the 66th minute, capitalizing on a shot off the post from Donati. Ava VanBuskirk cleaned up the rebound to put New Hampshire up 2-1. The third New Hampshire goal came at 72 minutes, as Donati scored a brace.

Belin and Freeman tied it up at 3-3 with their late goals, but UNH's Nina Ciri won it with her late goal. Up next, the River Hawks travel to NJIT for a match on Sunday, October 25. Kickoff in Newark, N.J. is set for 1 p.m.