Men's Soccer Falls at UMass Lowell in Season Opener

The Central Connecticut men's soccer team fell 2-0 at UMass Lowell in its season-opener on Sunday in Lowell, MA.  The River Hawks scored a goal on each side of halftime to win the fourth straight meeting with the Blue Devils.

Central will host Bryant for its home opener on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m.

GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE

Score:  CCSU 0, UMass Lowell 2
Records: CCSU (0-1-0), UML (1-0-1)
Location: Cushing Field | Lowell, MA

KEY MOMENTS

• CCSU was outpossessed in the early going, but Mick Sipples made a couple saves to keep the River Hawks off the scoreboard. The Blue Devils earned a pair of corner kicks in the first half, including a chance in the 20^th minute when Philip Hage put a shot on target that was saved.
• The River Hawks were able to open the scoring just before halftime. Taking possession off a throw-in, the ball found Santiago Somorrostro who took it up the right side. He would send a cross in that found a driving Oliver Holmstrom who tapped it into an unguarded net to make it 1-0 at the 38:38 mark.
• UMass Lowell doubled its lead at 47:55 after building the attack from the defensive end, Matteo Costa would slide a low pass to Shunnosuke Nakajima who ripped a low shot to the left side from 25 yards out to make it 2-0.
• The Blue Devils would ratchet up the offensive pressure in an attempt to rally. With just under four minutes to play a ball slipped through to Parker Bowman inside 10 yards out, but his attempt to tip it in was poked away by JR Gawel.
• Central had a final chance in the closing minute when Gawel misplayed a ball in his own area, but Bowman was unable to finish his shot due to a tough angle at the near post.

NUMBER TO KNOW

4 – After winning the first two meetings in the series at the division I level, CCSU has dropped the past four matchups.

NOTES

• UMass Lowell has won three straight meetings and leads the series, 3-2
• Sipples finished with three saves in the game.
• Bowman had a team-high two shots, while Hage and Taichi Yamada each added a shot on goal.

UP NEXT

• Central will host Bryant for its home opener on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m.

Follow @CCSUBlueDevils on Twitter and CCSUBlueDevils.com for updates.