Box Score

LOWELL, Mass. – Fifth-ranked and defending national champion UMass Lowell scored twice in the first two minutes of the match on its way to a 6-1 win over the eight-ranked American International College field hockey team in the first round of the NCAA Championship Tournament Saturday afternoon.

The River Hawks improved to 18-3 for the season and advance to play No. 3 Merrimack in the national semifinals November 11 at Bloomsburg. The Yellow Jackets finished the season at 12-9.

Junior back Sarah Wilcox (Old Town, Maine) scored just 58 seconds into the game for UMass Lowell and freshman forward/midfielder Bianca Jones (Watertown, Mass.) banged home a rebound 1:01 later to give the River Hawks a 2-0 lead.

Juniuor forward Mackenzie Kewley (Rutland, Mass.) put AIC on the board at the 9:45 mark off a crossing pass from junior midfielder Lisa Duckles (Netcong, N.J.) to cut the deficit in half, but UMass Lowell answered with four straight tallies for the 6-1 final.

Sophomore goalkeeper Melanie Hopkins (Harwich, Mass.) registered three saves to earn the win in goal for the River Hawks, while senior goalkeeper Kim Steiner (Little Falls, N.Y.) had seven stops in taking the loss for the Yellow Jackets.

Steiner now has a school-record 660 career saves, surpassing the previous mark of 659 saves set by Cindy Armand from 2004-07. She also finished her career as AIC's career record holder in wins (35), shutouts (7) and goals against average (2.32).

UMass Lowell outshot the Yellow Jackets 19-7 in the game and held a 9-7 advantage in corners.