River Hawks Show Out in Home Opener with 8-0 Victory against New Haven

Friday, September 11

Lowell, Mass.

6PM

University of Massachusetts Lowell

(2-3)

New Haven

(1-4)

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
New Haven	0	0	0	0	0
UMass Lowell	2	2	2	2	8

Ella Sluder and Alice Van Hemelen high five

River Hawks Show Out in Home Opener with 8-0 Victory against New Haven

9/11/2026 8:54:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

LOWELL, Mass. – Sophomore Alexa Guarneri (Hockessin, Del.) registered her first career hat trick to lead the UMass Lowell field hockey team (2-3) to an 8-0 victory against New Haven (1-4) in the 2026 home opener at Wicked Blue Field on Friday night.

"We were very happy to be back on our home turf," said Head Coach Shannon LeBlanc. "Obviously, I love opening up our home season with a shutout and multiple goal scorers. We wanted to continue on our good 'habit stacking' model and I thought we kept ourselves honest in most areas. I'm looking forward to seeing us take another step forward on Sunday."

Senior Karli Penrod (Seaford, Del.) also logged a multi-goal game with two on the night, while junior Audrey Carter (Dover, N.H.), sophomore Rena Pistilli (Lambaré, Paraguay) and freshman Ella Sluder (Allentown, N.J.) added one goal apiece. Sophomore goalkeepers Megan MacMiller (Tarzana, Calif) and Veerle Mous (Breda, Netherlands) split time in the cage to secure the win.

The River Hawks jumped in front in just the fifth minute, when Penrod diverted a pass through traffic into open space before firing a reverse-stick shot into the back of the cage to make it 1-0. Guarneri then extended the difference to 2-0 in the 12^th minute, driving a hard ball on the run.

In the 22^nd minute, the River Hawks converted on their first corner of the outing, as Pistilli ripped a hard shot past the opposing keeper with assists from senior Florine Gerrits (Amstelveen, Netherlands) and Frédèrique van den Dungen (Rosmalen, Netherlands). Van Hemelen then dribbled to the end line, pulling the goalkeeper out of position, before dumping a pass back to Guarneri for a wide-open finish to stretch the lead to 4-0 at the break.

The River Hawks kept the pressure on coming out of halftime, when Carter intercepted a pass and launched a shot from the top of the circle, making the scoring 5-0 at 33 minutes. In the 42^nd minute, the home side utilized another corner, this time with Guarneri getting a final tip to secure her first career hat trick and give her squad the 6-0 edge.

Less than a minute into the final quarter, Van Hemelen sent a ball through the circle toward the post for a redirect from Sluder for her first career goal and the team's seventh of the contest. Penrod then scored on a direct corner in the 51^st minute to wrap up the scoring and secure the 8-0 win.

The River Hawks remain at home to close out the weekend against local foe Merrimack on Sunday, September 13 at 1 p.m.