UMass Lowell recognized four senior men’s soccer players on May 15 for their dedication and contributions to the program. Mauro Fernandez, Olivier Holmstrom, Oscar Perez, and Iñaki Esnaola joined as freshmen alongside a new coaching staff and remained committed throughout their college careers.
The River Hawks finished the 2025 season by reaching the America East Semifinals for the first time since 2019, marking their most successful campaign under Head Coach Kyle Zenoni. The achievement followed years of perseverance from both players and coaches.
“Definitely the people here,” midfielder Oliver Holmstrom said when asked what makes UMass Lowell special. “The people are amazing, and the coaches improve every year, so that made me want to stay here. We’ve made improvements every year. I’m really happy I stayed here four years.” He added: “It was amazing. The first two years, we never made it to the playoffs. junior year, I think we deserved to make it because we had a very good team and played very good soccer. To be rewarded with the playoffs in my senior year—and with a win as well—was huge for us and huge for the program moving forward.”
Defender Oscar Perez reflected on his time at UMass Lowell: “These four years, we changed a lot as a program,” he said. “Senior year, we made the playoffs, and we won in the quarterfinals against UAlbany. So, it’s a lot of growth, as you can see… just four of us stayed these four years, so that tells that we wanted to see this program grow.” Forward Iñaki Esnaola said: “The best thing you can get from Kyle and staff is their respect… You have to be open… you’ll always have honesty… Putting in the work every day… So you have to be honest with yourself and with the team and work.” Midfielder Mauro Fernandez explained: “Kyle brought in so much talent and so many good people in the program that this has boomed into something that the program hasn’t seen before.”
During their senior season’s regular play (6-6-4 record), UMass Lowell secured its first playoff berth since 2019 after defeating #3 seed Albany in an overtime shootout—a moment highlighted by all four seniors as among their favorite memories at UMass Lowell.
Head Coach Kyle Zenoni praised his athletes’ impact on both athletics and academics: “What this program has become over the last four years is because of the young men who chose to invest in it…. But what makes me most proud is that their impact went far beyond field – they earned highest male team GPA in athletic department with GPA above 3.5…. Their legacy is not just wins or results…. They leave this program in far better place than they found it….”
