DURHAM, N.H. -- The UMass Lowell Field Hockey earned a huge 3-2 road victory in a sudden death shootout at New Hampshire on Friday night at Memorial Field.
The River Hawks improve to 6-7 overall on the year and pick up their first win in America East play, while UNH drops to 7-7 overall (2-2 AE). It marks the third straight win for the River Hawks in the series against UNH.
"Tonight was a win that will stay with this team for a long time," said UMass Lowell Head Coach
Shannon Hlebichuk. "We had grit, resiliency, focus and clutch performances in our shootouts. We are Incredibly proud of the team and their effort tonight. It's always a battle against UNH and we were prepared to grind it out and that's what we did."
Sophomore midfielder
Lindsey Kilpatrick (Manlius, N.Y.) scored the winner in the shootout, while senior goalkeeper
Eva Berkhout (Amersfoort, Utrecht, Netherlands) had the game-clinching save after Kilpatrick's goal to seal the win for the River Hawks. Junior back
Clara Defourt (Brussels, Belgium) scored in the shootout, while Berkhout made four saves in the span.
Leah Cardarelli (Acton, Mass.) scored in sudden death and UNH match that tally, leading up to Kilpatrick's shootout tally.
Freshman back
Sofie Knook (Amsterdam, Netherlands) tied the game up for the River Hawks with her sixth career goal with just 27 seconds left in regulation. Her goal came off a drive from the top of the circle off a corner. Then the teams played two scoreless overtime frames before heading to the shootout.
The Wildcats responded with two straight goals by Kayla Sliz and Bailey Fanikos at 35:49 and 43:18, respectively, to give UNH a 2-1 lead.
Junior midfielder
Sophie Kroeze (North Holland, Netherlands) got UMass Lowell on the board first on a shot through traffic in the middle of the circle at 24:25 of the second quarter.
Berkhout stopped four shots in the victory for the River Hawks, while her counterpart Jemma Woods totaled five saves in the losing effort for UNH.
UMass Lowell returns to action on Sunday, October 20th against Holy Cross on Senior Day and Alumni Day. The River Hawk senior class will be honored in a pre-game ceremony. Game time from Wicked Blue Field is 1 p.m.
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