Oct 31, 2005
By DAVID PEVEAR, Sun Staff
Lowell Sun
LOWELL -- As the busy goalkeeper on a Dracut High team that won two games last fall, Jennifer Cole showed she could stop a shot or two or 20.
UMass Lowell women's soccer coach Elie Monteiro was impressed.
Nobody else really got back to me, said Cole, who is now caught up in a wonderful dream in which she has floated off a two-win high school team to become the record-setting goalkeeper on the best team in the 11-year history of the UMass Lowell women's soccer program.
Today, the 12-5-1 River Hawks will host a Northeast-10 Conference tournament game for the first time ever when St. Rose comes to the Cushing Field complex for a 4 p.m. kickoff.
UMass Lowell is seeded third, St. Rose is sixth. The River Hawks were picked ninth in the NE-10 preseason coaches poll.
Earlier this season the River Hawks were nationally ranked for the first time, remaining so for three weeks and reaching No. 16 in the Division 2 poll. They still have a shot at reaching the NCAA Regional.
Though it all seems unreal to Cole, the freshman has proven to be very much for real. She has been in goal for six of UMass Lowell's school-record nine shutouts, including making five saves during a 5-0 victory over St. Michael's this past Tuesday in the River Hawks' regular-season finale.
Cole's six shutouts already have her tied for the career record at UMass Lowell.
The River Hawks, who last season finished 9-10-1 and reached the NE-10 playoffs for the first time, dropped their 2005 season-opener 2-1 to New Haven on Aug. 28. They then won seven in a row, the first four all being shutouts. Their stinginess was established.
Once we had a few shutouts in a row, the team got a sense of pride about not giving up goals, said Monteiro.
In 18 games, UMass Lowell has allowed 14 goals. The River Hawks have not allowed more than two goals in any game.
I got lucky, said Cole the ever-grateful goalkeeper from Dracut. This is the perfect fit for me all-around. The school had my major (exercise physiology) and not too many freshmen get the opportunity to play that I have had. I played varsity three years at Dracut and never won more than four games in a season. I went from 20 saves a game in high school to, I think, the most I've had this year is 10 or 11 in a game.
Jen got tested a lot in high school, said Monteiro. I knew as far as a shot-blocker, she would be where she is now (.824 save percentage, fifth in NE-10). There were other things she needed to improve on. She's working a lot on the technical part of the game.
Cole heaps credit on UMass Lowell's defensive line led by sophomore Katelyn Campopiano of Chelmsford.
Campopiano was the happiest River Hawk over the arrival of freshmen Cole and Anna Bagley of Dover, N.H. (three shutouts in four starts) to tend goal this season. Last season the River Hawks were left with no other option but to have Campopiano play goal for the first time since early in her junior season at Chelmsford High.
We had a good back four (on defense), so it kind of made it easy to get back into it, said Campopiano. But yeah, it was definitely good to have two goalies coming in this season. Overall we've been doing a great job in front of (Cole). But we couldn't have all these shutouts without her in net. It's a combination of both.
The River Hawks still need to score at least one goal to win. Monteiro still looks to senior forward Jody Graham of Billerica in times of need. After two seasons at Salem State, Graham transferred to UMass Lowell and last season led the River Hawks in scoring with 12 goals and three assists.
This season Graham has four goals and five assists, tying her for third on the team in scoring.
We're playing more of a possession game, which has taken a few opportunities away from Jody, said Monteiro. We're not relying on her as much, but she's still very capable. When there's a scoring opportunity, she's the one we want the ball to go to.
Three other local freshmen besides Cole are part of the River Hawks' historic season: defenders Tina Boyd and Susan Kelly, both of Dracut, and midfielder Amanda Goodwin of Ayer.
