Two second half goals propel UMass Lowell past Stonehill                

Mark Bolster scored his ninth goal of the season for the Skyhawks.

LOWELL, Mass. (October 28, 2011) – UMass Lowell erased a halftime deficit to claim a 3-2 victory over the Stonehill College men's soccer team in Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) action on Friday night at Cushing Field. The Skyhawks (10-8, 7-6 NE-10) will enter the NE-10 Tournament as the no.8 seed and will play no.1 seeded Franklin Pierce University, ranked first in the most recent NCAA Division II East Regional rankings, on Tuesday, November 1 in Rindge, N.H.

Junior midfielder Matheus Candido (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) spearheaded the River Hawks comeback victory netting both the game-tying and game-winning goals just four minutes and one second apart to lift UMass Lowell to 10-6 overall and 9-4 NE-10.

Stonehill junior midfielder Jonathan Hope (Avon, Conn/Avon) opened up the scoring in the 10th minute of the contest blasting a shot behind River Hawks goalkeeper Connor Askins (Boston, Mass./Catholic Memorial) for a 1-0 advantage and his first goal of the season.

Senior Mark Bolster (Narragansett, R.I./Narragansett) gave the Skyhawks a 2-0 lead at 12:10 on a nice feed from teammate Anthony Campagnano (Schenectady, N.Y./Guilderland) for his ninth goal of the year.

Sophomore midfielder Kyle Garvan (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) responded for UMass Lowell moments later (17:55) heading in a flick from teammate Homero Morais (Somerville, Mass./Somerville) off of Asley Barrios' (Carazo, Nicaragua/Rever) corner kick for his first goal of the season and a 2-1 deficit.

Candido tied up the game at 80:39 receiving a through ball from Bruno Bonicontro (Marlborough, Mass./Marlborough) and sniping a shot inside the left post past Stonehill goalkeeper Adam Colella (Wilmington, Mass./St. John's Prep.) for his fourth marker.

Candido wasted little time claiming the lead for the River Hawks finishing on a Bonicontro cross inside the left post at 84:40 for a 3-2 gap.

Askins preserved the win for UMass Lowell late in the game turning away a header from Stonehill senior back Christopher Agan (Niskayuna, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) at 85:39. The River Hawks backline did not allow a shot for the remainder of the contest.

Askins made two saves in the win while Colella stopped five shots for the Skyhawks.

UMass Lowell outshot Stonehill, 18-6, and won the corners matchup, 9-1. The Skyhawks only corner in the game came in the 87th minute.

- www.stonehillskyhawks.com -