River Hawks Vie for America East Regular-Season Title at UAlbany

LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell field hockey team (9-7, 3-1 AE) heads to UAlbany (9-5, 3-1 AE) for a match that will decide the 2026 America East Regular-Season Champion on Thursday, October 29 at 2 p.m.

RIVER HAWK REWIND
The River Hawks defeated the Maine Black Bears in their lone game last week, 4-1. Four different River Hawks scored in the contest and the team outshot its opponent on goal, 15-2.

LEADING THE FLOCK
Junior Audrey Carter (Dover, N.H.) paces the River Hawks with a personal-best 17 points (6 goals, 5 assists). Sophomore Rena Pistilli (Lambaré, Paraguay), who totals a team-high seven goals, follows with 16 points and senior Alice Van Hemelen (Tervuren, Belgium) boasts 15 points. Freshman Frédèrique van den Dungen (Rosmalen, Netherlands) is first on the team with seven assists so far. In the cage, sophomores Veerle Mous (Breda, Netherlands) and Megan MacMiller (Tarzana, Calif.) continue to split time and combine for 56 saves and a .737 save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
The River Hawks are 2-19 all-time against UAlbany.

PLAYOFF PICTURE
The River Hawks are vying for their second America East regular-season title in three years after winning a share of the title with UAlbany in 2023. If the River Hawks take one of the top two spots, they will get a first round bye in the America East Championship and move on to hosting semifinal action on Tuesday, November 3 at 1 p.m. If UMass Lowell takes the No. 3 seed in the tournament following tiebreakers, they will host a quarterfinal match on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 12 p.m.

HOME SWEET HOME
The River Hawks are 7-1 at Wicked Blue Field in 2026. UMass Lowell has continued to dominate on home turf, outscoring its opponents 25-5.

DEFENSIVE DISRUPTION
The River Hawks have held a significant defensive edge over their opponents this season. UMass Lowell is allowing just 1.31 goals per game, the second-best mark in America East, trailing only Vermont. Additionally, Mous and MacMiller's combined .737 save percentage ranks third in the conference.

CORNER CRASHERS
The River Hawks have been incredibly difficult to score on during defensive corners so far in 2026, allowing just seven goals on 61 attempts by the opposition, for an 89% success rate.

HAT TRICK HEROES
Rena Pistilli converted on three corners to record her first career hat trick and lead the River Hawks to a dominant 4-0 shutout victory at New Hampshire on Oct. 16. Alexa Guarneri also recorded a hat trick earlier this season in the team's victory against New Haven on Sept. 11.

WEEKLY AWARDS
Alice Van Hemelen was tabbed AE Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 27 after scoring one goal and helping limit Maine to just two shots on goal. Rena Pistilli was named America East Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 20 for her three goals at UNH. Freshman Frederique van den Dungen earned her second consecutive weekly honor on Oct. 6, being named America East Defensive Player of the Week after helping the River Hawks secure a 1-0 conference-opening victory over Bryant. On Sept. 29, sophomore Megan MacMiller earned Goalkeeper of the Week honors, while van den Dungen was named Rookie of the Week. Guarneri received America East Offensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 15 after tallying eight points in a 2-0 week against New Haven and Merrimack. Earlier in the season, Mous was named America East Goalkeeper of the Week on Sept. 1 after recording a 0.00 goals-against average in 60 minutes of action against Stanford and UC Davis.

STIFF COMPETITION
The River Hawks have now faced three nationally ranked opponents this season, including No. 12 Syracuse. Since 2021, the team has challenged 18 nationally ranked opponents, with 12 of its 15 losses decided by two goals or fewer.

OF NOTE
Freshman Mae Kemps (Vught, Netherlands) scored her first career goal at Syracuse (9.19) … freshman Ella Sulder (Allentown, N.J.) scored her first career goal against New Haven (9.11).

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Players Mentioned

Audrey Carter

Alexa Guarneri

Mae Kemps

Megan MacMiller

Veerle Mous

Rena Pistilli

Alice Van Hemelen

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