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PHILADELPHIA - Senior Olivia Shoemaker drained two goals and redshirt keeper Lisa Shaffer made 12 saves as the La Salle field hockey team shut out UMass Lowell 3-0 in the home opener on Sunday afternoon.

Senior Mariel Papa added a goal for the Explorers, who move to 1-3 overall. UMass Lowell drops to 0-3.

The River Hawks controlled the majority of the play through the first 20 minutes of the game, outshooting the Explorers 6-1 in that span. However, Shaffer came up with four big stops including one off of a penalty corner and the Explorer defense forced the other two shots wide to keep the visitors off the scoreboard.

The Explorer offense picked up after that, as the team picked up a penalty corner opportunity at the 20:36 mark to turn the momentum. The teams traded opportunities back and forth until the Explorers finally broke through in the 29th minute. Maddy Tettelbach sent a penalty corner in to Olivia Leaman and Juliana Carfagno. Carfagno chipped the ball over to Shoemaker, who drained the game's first score.

Lowell attempted to get on the board with four straight shots and two penalty corners in a two-minute span just before the break, but Shaffer picked up three more saves and another shot sailed wide to keep the River Hawks scoreless.

The two squads played back-and-forth ball through the first half of the second stanza, and the Explorers fended off a man-down scenario from the 53rd until the 58th minutes. Within seconds of being back at full strength, Papa drained the insurance goal. Rookie Abbey Lawrence took a shot that was saved by River Hawk keeper Melanie Hopkins, but Papa picked up the rebound and drained the ball into the back of the cage to put the Explorers up 2-0.

The Explorers had an opportunity to make it 3-0 on a penalty stroke at 62:38, but Hopkins came up with the save. However, the squad wasted no time after that in getting the third goal. Lawrence chipped a pass over to Shoemaker, who scored her second of the game at the 63:29 mark.

The River Hawks threatened one more time in the 68th minute, as Melissa Effertz took back-to-back shots but Shaffer came up with two stops. The River Hawks then drew one more penalty corner a few seconds after that, and Effertz got off a third shot within a minute, but Shaffer once again made the stop to preserve the shutout.

Shaffer recorded 12 saves and picked up the shutout win, while Hopkins suffered the loss for the River Hawks and made seven saves in the effort.

The Explorers head back on the road next weekend, playing at Sacred Heart on Friday (9/13) at 7 p.m. and then at Fairfield on Sunday (9/15) at noon.