Score: UAlbany 16, UMass Lowell 10
Location: Cushing Field in Lowell, Mass.
Records: UAlbany (5-4, 1-0); UMass Lowell (3-7, 0-1)
Short Story: UAlbany pulls away late in the second half to secure a victory over UMass Lowell in the 2019 America East opener.
Coach Rowan: "We had a good team effort today as we started off our conference play against a competitive team in UMass Lowell. I thought Sam did a phenomenal job of getting the team valuable possessions on the draw to give us opportunities on offense. We had some great sparks today and our players were ready to step up when needed. We can't wait to get back to work as we prepare for our upcoming opponents."
Key Stats
Recap
The University at Albany women's lacrosse team opened the 2019 America East schedule with a 16-10 victory over UMass Lowell on Saturday, propelling the Great Danes back above .500 heading into a showdown at Syracuse next Wednesday.
UAlbany got on the board first, just over a minute into the first half when Hailey Carroll converted a free position shot. A minute later, UMass Lowell scored on a free position shot of their own to tie the game at one.
UAlbany rolled off each of the next four goals to take a 5-1 lead with 10:04 remaining. Between the Danes' fourth and fifth goals, there was a 10-minute scoreless stretch where neither team found the back of the net.
In response, UMass Lowell scored four straight to tie the game at five with 2:35 remaining. Kyla Zapolski scored on a setup from Sam Tortora with 39 seconds remaining to give the Great Danes a narrow, 6-5 lead at halftime.
UAlbany outshot UMass Lowell 21-10 in the first half, but came away with just a one-goal advantage. The Great Danes also recovered 13 ground balls in the first 30 minutes to UMass Lowell's six. Carroll scored three goals in the first half, and Zapolski scored twice with one assist.
UMass Lowell tied the game at six just four minutes into the second half, before UAlbany went on a 3-0 run over the next seven minutes to take a 9-6 lead with 19:31 remaining. UMass Lowell scored four straight to go up 10-9 with 12:33 remaining, the Riverhawks' first lead of the game.
Two minutes later, Carroll scored her fourth goal of the game to tie up the score at 10, sparking a seven-goal run for the Great Danes to take command and claim victory. UMass Lowell never found the net again, and UAlbany went on to win 16-10.
Carroll finished the game with six goals, while Zapolski scored twice with two assists. Kendra Harbinger added three goals, and Tortora recorded three assists. As a team, the Great Danes outshot the Riverhawks 20-11 in the second half, and 41-21 overall.
Next: UAlbany plays its third of four-straight on the road with a trip to Coach Rowan's alma mater, Syracuse, on Wednesday, March 27.
