LOWELL, Mass. – Coming off the team's third straight clean sheet, the UMass Lowell men's soccer team (7-4-2, 2-1-1 AE) returns home for the first time in three weeks when they welcome the UMBC Retrievers (4-6-3, 0-3-1 AE) to town on Saturday, October 25. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Cushing Field.

LAST TIME OUT
The River Hawks enter the weekend coming off a 1-0 victory on the road over NJIT. Against the Highlanders, sophomore Matteo Costa (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) scored his first career goal in the 84^th minute, lifting his team to the one-goal victory. Recording an assist on the goal was senior Oliver Holmstrom (Gävle, Sweden), while senior Iñaki Esnaola (Junin, Argentina) and juniors Alex Champagne (Pembroke Pines, Fl.) and Linus Musielak (Dortmund, Germany) all led the team with four shots, each with two shots on target as well. As a team, the River Hawks dominated in total shots, outshooting the Highlanders 25-7 and 13-2 in shots on goal. In net, graduate student Jorge Ortega (Tijuana, B.C., Mexico) earned his third straight shutout with a one-save performance.

LEADING THE FLOCK
Through 13 games, redshirt sophomore Justin Pham (Liverpool, N.Y.) leads the team with six points off two goals and two assists. Behind him, Musielak totals two goals and an assist for five points, while senior Junyoung Hwang (Gimpo, South Korea), sophomore Henry Wohlt (Milwaukee, Wis.), junior Ethan Agyare-Danso (Etobicoke, Canada) and Holmstrom each tally a goal and an assist. Sophomore Cristiano Da Silva (Port Coquitlam, British Columbia) is tied with Pham and graduate student Shunnouke Nakajima (Yokohama, Japan) for the team lead with two assists, while five other River Hawks total two points. Senior Mauro Fernandez (Fitchburg, Mass.), Esnaola, and Nakajima represent the three River Hawks to start in 12 of the team's 13 games. In net, the River Hawks have split time between two goalies, with freshman Alvaro Medrano (Guatemala City, Guatemala) making 37 saves and allowing 10 goals in seven starts, while Ortega has made 12 saves and allowed five goals in six starts, including posting three straight shutouts.

PLAYOFF HUNT
With a win this weekend, the River Hawks can become the second America East team to clinch a playoff spot, which would mark the first time the team has made the conference tournament since the 2019 season.  It has already been a successful season for the River Hawks, as their seven wins are the most since the 2019 campaign as well, and their seven conference points mark the most since finishing with nine in 2021.

SHUTOUT STREAK
Ahead of the season, Coach Zenoni emphasized the need for good defensive play to find success in conference play. So far, so good, as the River Hawks have posted clean sheets in each of the last three matches, the longest shutout streak by the team since recording five straight during the 2019 season, and the longest streak in conference play since posting three straight to close out the 2017 season. If UMass Lowell can post a clean sheet again this weekend, it will become the team's longest conference play shutout streak at the Division I level.  

RAPID FIRE RIVER HAWKS
So far this season, the River Hawks have excelled at jumping in front early of the opposition, scoring the first goal of the game in all seven of their wins. Even more impressive, in three of those wins, they've found the back of the net in less than five minutes. Most recently, Hwang opened the scoring with 4:58 on the clock against CCSU, and although Pham scored the game-winner against Merrimack just over three minutes in, his earliest goal of the year came in the season opener when he struck against Saint Peter's with 1:21 on the clock.

HOT HAND IN NET
In their first years at UMass Lowell, the River Hawks' goalkeeping duo has made their names known. Medrano, who has earned the start in seven of the team's 13 games, has compiled a 4-2-1 record while posting a .787 save percentage. His 5.29 saves per game sit ninth in the nation and first in the America East as well. Ortega, meanwhile, has earned the start in the team's last three games, posting three straight clean sheets to help the team earn seven points in conference play. On the season, the graduate student has allowed only five goals in six appearances, good for a 0.83 goals against average.

WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
In week eight, after playing the entire game and serving as a key member of the defense that held #2 Vermont scoreless at home for the first time since 2022, Nakajima was tabbed the America East Defensive Player of the Week. The award marks the fourth of the year for the River Hawks, as only a week prior, after making his fourth career start and playing all 90 minutes while helping hold Binghamton scoreless and without a shot on target, sophomore Aamir Ketbache (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) was named the America East Defensive Player of the Week. Earlier in the season, Medrano was named both the America East Defensive Player and Rookie of the Week in week two after making 11 saves without allowing a goal in his first two collegiate appearances. Not only did the two awards mark the first for UMass Lowell on the season, but it is the first time a River Hawk has earned both awards in the same week.

FRESH FACES
Five of the newest River Hawks have made at least ten appearances so far this season, with two earning at least eight starts. Seven of the team's 13 goals have come off the foot of a newcomer, while four newcomers have accumulated at least 600 minutes of playtime.

CONFERENCE RANKINGS
Entering Friday morning, the America East is ranked as one of the best conferences in the nation, as it joins the ACC, WCC, and Big Ten as the only four conferences to have two teams in the top 10 in RPI. Although Bryant and Vermont are in front of the River Hawks, UMass Lowell is the next highest-ranked team in the conference, sitting at 66th in the RPI out of over 200 teams.

SCOUTING THE RETRIEVERS
UMBC enters Saturday's match coming off a 3-3 draw against George Washington on Tuesday afternoon after falling to UAlbany 2-0 in their last conference match. So far this season, Brady Geho paces the Retrievers with ten points off four goals and two assists, while right behind him, Matteo Samori posts a team-high three assists alongside two goals. Defensively, Emigdio Tormo Lopez has started all 13 games in net for his team, making 39 saves while allowing 16 goals for a .709 save percentage and a 4-6-3 record.

MATCHUP HISTORY
UMass Lowell and UMBC have faced off 11 times, with UMBC holding a slight, 6-4-1 advantage in those games. Most recently, the team battled to a 1-1 draw in Baltimore during the 2024 season, while the River Hawks last earned a victory against the Retrievers in 2021.