Days after clinching its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1985, the
The tournament does not begin until May 10, meaning two weeks will have passed between its 15-14 overtime win against Saint Joseph’s and the UMass’ first-round matchup in the NCAA’s.
The official field for the 16-team tournament will be set this Sunday, with first-round action taking place at college sites. It is unknown whether or not UMass (11-7), which earned the automatic bid by winning the Atlantic 10 Championship, will be selected to receive a home game.
In its favor is its sterling 8-1 conference and A-10 tournament record.
The problem the Minutewomen could face from the selection committee is the weakness of the A-10 conference as a whole. Only two other teams beside UMass in the conference have an overall record above .500 ‘- with St. Joe’s 10-8 record and Duquesne finishing at 9-8. This is not something the Minutewomen had any control over, but it could hurt them nonetheless.
One more strike against the Minutewomen is their 1-4 record against teams in the Top 25 from early in the season. UMass coach Alexis Venechanos purposely picked a difficult early schedule to prepare the Minutewomen for conference play. It certainly has worked out, but those early losses may result in a road game for UMass come May 10.
The quarterfinals will also be held at campus sites on May 16, while the finals will be held at
Record draw
It has been a breakout season for many UMass players, but perhaps no one has improved as much as senior midfielder Meghan Reddy, who has become an expert at winning draw controls.
Reddy set a new career record for draw controls at UMass with 123, but really became great at draws in her senior year. She notched 77 in her senior season alone, which is the single-season record for UMass.
She had 12 draw controls against the Hawks in the A-10 title game, which is third all-time in a single game in the NCAA. Her dominance in the game played a large part in UMass’ 28-6 advantage on the draw in the championship.
Venechanos credits this success to both Reddy’s tenacity as well as coaching she has received from assistant coaches Acacia Walker and Kristin Blanchette.
‘I give a lot of credit to Acacia and Kristin they both do the draw at an international level. Meg just keeps practicing it, and the girls around the circle have been great,’ Venechanos said following the team’s win over St. Joe’s. ‘Meg Reddy has a fight in her that’s very hard to coach and I give her all the credit.’
Iron women
Senior defender Jackie Rosenzweig recently set a record at UMass for consecutive starts on the lacrosse team, with 71 straight.
She is not the only player with an impressive streak, though. Junior defender Merritt Cosgrove has made 53 straight starts and could have an outside chance of breaking her record next year.
Rain or shine
Throughout the season, Venechanos has preached that she wanted her team to play effectively in any weather. They have had to do just that.
They played in a torrential downpour against
In the championship game against the Hawks, the Minutewomen had to deal with the other end of the spectrum: playing temperatures in
Scott Feldman can be reached at [email protected].
