Men's Soccer

No. 6 UMass Lowell & No. 4 New Hampshire Advance to #AEMSOC Semifinals

BOSTON – No. 6 UMass Lowell scored in the final minute of regulation to force OT and then won it in penalty kicks as both #AEMSOC quarterfinal matchups went to penalty kicks on Saturday. In the opener, No. 4 New Hampshire advanced by No. 5 UMBC on penalty kicks 5-3.
 
Trailing 3-2 in the last minute, UMass Lowell goalkeeper Jorge Ortega scored on a free kick to force overtime and then saved a pair of penalty kicks in the shootout to lift the No. 6 River Hawks past No. 3 UAlbany.
 
The Wildcats and Retrievers played to a scoreless draw and needed penalty kicks to see who would advance. UNH connected on all five of their attempts while Scott Williams stopped one UMBC shot for the Wildcats.
 
No. 4 New Hampshire will square off against top seed Vermont on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in one semifinal, while No. 2 Bryant will welcome No. 6 UMass Lowell at 6:00 p.m. in the other semifinal.
 
Semifinal Recap
No. 4 New Hampshire 0, No. 5 UMBC 0 (UNH Advances 5-3 on PK’s)
  • The two teams combined for just six shots in the opening half with each team earning a pair of corner kicks.
  • In the 55th minute, UNH nearly scored with the goalie out of position but  Adamo Pantaleo made the stop on the goal line to keep it even.
  • Both teams had chances over the final 35 minutes but the contest went to OT. Five minutes into OT, UNH hit the near post on a great shot attempt.
  • The game went to penalty kicks and both teams converted their first. The Wildcats scored on their second, and Scott Williams made the save on UMBC’s second attempt.
  • UNH connected on each of their final three attempts to win the shootout by a 5-3 margin and advance to the semifinals.

 
No. 6 UMass Lowell 3, No. 3 UAlbany 3 (UML Advances 5-4 on PK’s)
  • UMass Lowell grabbed the early 1-0 lead on a free kick just outside the box as Oscar Perez ripped a shot into the upper corner of the net.
  • The River Hawks made it 2-0 in the 32nd minute as Linus Musielak fed Alex Champagne at the top of the 18. He made one quick move and then fired a shot into the upper corner of the net.
  • UAlbany got on the board in the 38th minute, drawing a hand ball in the box. Alexander Clive connected on a penalty kick to cut the deficit to 2-1.
  • UML Goalkeeper Jorge Ortega made a diving stop in the 41st minute off a corner kick to maintain the one-goal lead.
  • In the 62nd minute, Roko Branko Mrvelj sent a cross to the middle of the six and a charging Ivar Gissurarson headed into the back of the net to tie the contest.
  • Gissurarson tallied his second goal just six minutes later, ripping home a rebound inside the six.
  • In the final minute, UML goalkeeper Jorge Ortega came into the box on a free kick and collected a pass in front, firing a shot past his counterpart to even the score.
  • The game went into penalty kicks and each goalkeeper made one save in the first five attempts. UML connected on their 6th and Ortega made a another save to send the River Hawks into the semifinals.

Stay up-to-date on the tournament by visiting Championship Central for streaming and live stats links as well as box scores, highlights and recaps following each round in addition to team information, tournament history and more.
 
Follow @AmericaEast on X (Formerly Twitter) to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AEMSOC hashtags to join the conversation.

ABOUT AMERICA EAST
Founded in 1979, the America East Conference is an elite NCAA Division I athletic conference that fosters an environment for student-athletes to become champions. Comprised of academically renowned, like-minded member institutions located in the Northeast region of the United States, America East is committed to broad-based excellence and progressive in its approach to supporting its more than 3,500 student-athletes across 18 sponsored sports. For more information, visit www.AmericaEast.com and follow the America East Conference and its social media channels, @AmericaEast.
 
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