Poppy Lambert scored late in the fourth quarter Friday afternoon, as #23 Maine got past the University of Massachusetts-Lowell 1-0 in a tough defensive battle in America East Field Hockey action at Wicked Blue Field in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Not much was happening offensively in a scoreless first half, as Maine didn’t have a shot on goal compared to just two for the hosts that were both turned away by Mia Borley. The Black Bears first shot of the game came 4:30 into the third quarter from Sydney Meader, who had a clear path to the net but UMass-Lowell goalkeeper Elenore Boekhorst came out to challenge and made a pad save. The guests turned up the pressure in the fourth quarter and dominated possession time. With just under two minutes left, Maine was awarded a penalty corner. Tereza Holubcova sent the ball to the top of the circle where Lambert touched a pass over to Chloe Walton, and Walton returned a quick pass back over to Lambert who fired it past Boekhorst for the game winner with 1:52 to go.
Borley stopped all six shots for the win in net for the Black Bears, who have now won six games in a row improving to 7-3 and 3-0 in America East. It was the second shutout for the fifth year senior netminder on the season so far. Walton was credited with an assist on the seventh goal for Lambert. Boekhorst stopped two of three shots in goal for UMass-Lowell, who falls to 7-3 and 3-1 in the conference as their six game win streak was snapped. The Riverhawks had a 13-5 shots attempted edge in the game (6-3 on goal). Maine is now 17-0-1 all-time against UML in Division I meetings. The Bears return home to host Merrimack College in non-conference play on Sunday afternoon at 2:30.
