SCORE: UAlbany 3, UMass Lowell 1
LOCATION: Alumni Turf - Albany, N.Y.
RECORDS: #23 UAlbany 10-4, 4-2 America East | UMass Lowell 9-5, 4-2 America East
SHORT STORY: Striking first, the Great Danes excelled in the second half to defeat the River Hawks, Friday afternoon.
COACH PHIL SYKES: "We had a very big win today. We have faced a lot of teams coming in here, like Vermont and UMass Lowell, who have been very successful this season and they are tricky games. I really admire UMass Lowell for what they have done this year - they are really well-coached. I am so proud of how we showed up today in a very important conference match."
KEY STATS
- Sophomore Alison Smisdom scored twice to lead the Great Danes.
- Senior Julie Rodijk scored the final goal of the contest.
- UAlbany outshot UMass Lowell, 11-10.
- Smisdom tallied her second defensive save in the second quarter.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Great Danes scored the opening goal with eight and a half minutes remaining in the first quarter, as Smisdom buried a penalty stroke attempt into the top left corner of the net.
- Thirty second into the second quarter, the River Hawks equalized the score with an unassisted goal. The score remained level headed into halftime.
- UAlbany took the lead as Smisdom notched her second goal of the match finishing in the bottom left corner on a penalty corner. Inserted by graduate student Luisa Knapp, Smisdom scored with a direct shot after a stick stop from sophomore Blanca Orsola.
- Senior Julie Rodijk added a third goal for the Great Danes, picking up her own blocked shot and sending it into the bottom left corner with seven minutes to go in the game.
- The UAlbany defense was rock solid in the second half, keeping the River Hawks scoreless and limiting them to four shots in the second half.
NEXT: The Great Danes will head on the road for #16 UMass. UAlbany is set to face the Minutemen at 2 pm on Sunday, October 16.
For more information on the University at Albany field hockey team, follow the squad's official social media accounts shown below.
Twitter - @ualbanyfh
Instagram - @ualbanyfh
Facebook – facebook.com/UAlbanyFH