LOWELL, Mass. – Six different River Hawks scored at least one goal, as the UMass Lowell men's lacrosse team (2-6, 0-2 AE) dropped a hard-fought battle to the UAlbany Great Danes (5-4, 3-0 AE), 13-7, in the team's first home conference contest of the season.

"I'm really happy with our guys' effort," said Head Coach Drew Kelleher. "UAlbany is the two-time defending champs for a reason, and they have some really good players. I'm proud of the steps we've taken the last couple of weeks, but we've got to start executing better against high-level teams, and we're going to continue to work on that."

Leading the way for the River Hawks was sophomore Danny Burke (Eden Prairie, Minn.), who finished with two goals and an assist for three points. Juniors Johnny Soi (Kerhonkson, N.Y.) and Justin Alexander (Franklin, Mass.), sophomores Alex Lafreniere (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Griffin Sumwalt (Aquebogue, N.Y.), and freshman Ryan Proctor (Uxbridge, Ontario) all contributed with a goal, while redshirt sophomore James Donnelly (Ottawa, Ontario) and sophomore Miles Kempski (West Chester, Pa.) both added an assist. Defensively, junior Jackson Schlicker (Portland, Ore.) added two ground balls and two caused turnovers.

The River Hawks started the game strong, keeping the opposition off the board for nearly five minutes. Meanwhile, the offense went straight to work, with Sumwalt ripping a shot past the UAlbany goalkeeper with 12:00 on the clock, giving his squad a 1-0 lead.  The Great Danes responded, scoring at the 10:26 mark to even the score, and although the River Hawks' defense kept the score the same for over four minutes, the visitors added four more to take a 5-1 lead into the second quarter.

Just like the start of the game, UMass Lowell had a great start to the second quarter, as Lafreniere struck in a man-up situation, cutting the deficit to 5-2. At the same time, the defense held its ground, preventing the opposition from scoring for nearly half the period to keep the difference at three. After UAlbany scored twice to extend the lead, Burke struck for the River Hawks, adding his 13th goal of the season to cut the difference to four. The Great Danes countered, adding one more to make it 8-3 at the half.

In the third, UAlbany added to its lead, scoring the first three out of the break to take an 11-3 advantage. The River Hawks refused to back down, though, as Alexander won the faceoff before sprinting immediately down the field and ripping a shot into the back of the net, getting his squad back on the board. Although UAlbany added one more of their own, Soi and Proctor went back-to-back in 20 seconds, cutting the difference to 12-6 heading into the fourth quarter.

In the final quarter, the River Hawks attempted to make a comeback, starting with a goal by Burke with just under nine minutes to play, but the Great Danes added a goal of their own, sealing the 13-7 final score.

Next up, the River Hawks return to action Saturday, April 4, when they host the UMBC Retrievers. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. at Cushing Field.