The heavy underdog Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team had little to lose on its trip through Title Town, but it better have taken notes after rubbing elbows with the sport’s most storied Division I program.
Friday in
During a game in which UMass (0-2) controlled possession for most of the opening play, halftime might’ve been the Minutewomen’s worst enemy.
Finishing with an overall deficit of two draw controls (11-9) and trailing the Lady Terrapins (2-0) by two goals at the half, the Minutewomen gave up seven unanswered goals immediately after the break.
Senior captain Holly Drown gave UMass a spark when she tied the score, 1-1, with an unassisted blast during the first 15 minutes of play. However, goals by Drown (one goal, one assist), Merritt Cosgrove, Haley Smith and Brittany Brigandi were not enough offensive muscle to overcome a top-10 team.
The eight-time national champion Terrapins outshot UMass 27-10. Junior
In fact it was McFadden, a 2008 second ‘ team All-American, who kick-started the blowout when she scored back-to-back goals shortly after Drown’s first-half equalizer. It was smooth sailing from there for
Despite UMass veteran Cosgrove capitalizing on a free position shot with 22 seconds remaining in the opening period to tighten the score at 4-2, the Terps came out of the locker room outscored UMass 12-2.
Nevertheless, the overmatched Minutewomen wouldn’t leave without a fight. It took a little underclassmen boost to stop the second-half bleeding, when sophomore Smith scored with 6:29 remaining. Smith was assisted by goalie Katie Florence (16 GA, 6 saves) before Brigandi rounded out the Minutewomen’s scoring efforts with a little more than a minute remaining.
UMD captain McFadden and her
In the weeks to come, fans will have to hope second-half collapses aren’t becoming a trend for the Minutewomen. UMass coach Alexis Venechanos’s squad has surrendered 62 percent of its total goals-against in the second half so far this season.
The away game experience at
Through March, Venechanos’ squad is set to play road games at No. 10 Boston University and No. 14 New Hampshire before taking on the nation’s top team, No. 1 ranked Northwestern, under the lights at McGuirk Alumni Stadium on March 25.
In a preseason interview, Venechanos indicated the Minutewomen would not back down.
‘Hopefully this year we’re able to sort of knock off those ranked teams out of conference,’ she said.’ ‘We’re looking forward to playing the competition and knocking them off.’
Holly J. Galvin can be reached at [email protected].