The Massachusetts women’s soccer team showcased its offensive prowess in a 2-2 tie against UMass Lowell Thursday night.
Quick starts to both halves saved the Minutewomen (1-0-2) from falling behind. In the seventh minute, forward Nia Hislop raced to save a ball and kicked across the net to a running Bella Recinos down the middle to connect for the first goal of the game. UMass picked up its second goal coming out of halftime. Ella Curry took a kick from the top of the box that was headed by Grace Pinkus, sailing over the arms of Lowell goalkeeper Taylor Burgess.
After scoring the first goal of the game, Recinos made her presence known on all areas of the field. Fighting for each opportunity to find her teammates or the net, her grit showed.
“[Recinos is] playing with a lot of confidence right now,” head coach Jason Dowiak said. “She has a sense for how to find the ball and it’s getting more and more purposeful about making us dangerous. She’s helping influence forward progress,”
UMass’ quick goals were offset by late goals in each half by the Riverhawks (0-1-2). In the 33rd minute, Julia Edholm fired a shot from far out that bounced off goalkeeper Bella Mendoza’s gloves into the net.
UMass Lowell countered the goal from Pinkus in the second half with a shot from Luka Marceau that snuck by Mendoza.
The goals from the Riverhawks were not a reflection of Mendoza’s performance, Dowiak noted.
“Honestly, the two goals, really not much … that I think [Mendoza] could’ve done,” Dowiak said.
UMass held possession of the ball for most of the game. The ball remained on Lowell’s defensive end through quick connections from the Minutewomen. UMass recorded 13 shots on goal to the Riverhawks five, with both sides converting two.
“We didn’t really test their goalkeeper more than the two goals, maybe two or three other times where she had to really work to make a save,” Dowiak said. “We took a lot of shots tonight, but we didn’t take a lot of effective shots.”
Lowell almost got away with a win seconds after tying the game in the 81st minute of the second half. Senior forward Calliste Brookshire chased after a ball that was shielded by a Minutewomen defender for Mendoza to pick up. The ball appeared to slip away and Brookshire took an open shot on goal that was later confirmed as a no goal.
Brookshire proved to be the motor behind the Riverhawks offense, as her teammates consistently looked for her on the attack.
“[Brookshire] was a handful. We have to be smarter in how we defend moments like that,” Dowiak said.
UMass’ defense displayed its speed on the field, sprinting to get in front of any Riverhawk player looking to score. However, Dowiak noted that this may have hurt the team in certain moments.
“We didn’t manage our possession later in the game,” Dowiak said. “Our team has a ton of fight in it, there’s no doubt about that, but we’ve got to be able to complement that fight and that grit with a little bit more intent in how we think about managing teams.”
The Minutewomen are still on the road with their next game in New Haven, Connecticut against Yale. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. on Sunday and will be streamed on ESPN+.
Rachel Toth can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @RachelToth46.
