The
Now the Minutewomen must accomplish the seemingly impossible ‘- topple a dynasty.
This Sunday the Minutewomen (11-7) will travel to
‘We’re underdogs, nobody expects us to win,’ goalkeeper Katie Florence said. ‘It’s going to be fun for us because we have nothing to lose. We just can go out there, play with an attitude and hopefully pull off the upset.’
The Wildcats played UMass earlier this season defeating the Minutewomen 22-5 on March 25. Meghan Reddy led the way for the Minutewomen with a hat trick, but five players recorded three goals or more for NU.
UMass does have the advantage of familiarity against Northwestern, not only have the Minutewomen seen how NU plays firsthand; their coaching staff has insider knowledge.
Venechanos and current UMass assistant Acacia Walker both won NCAA titles as assistant coaches for Northwestern coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. Venechanos was there from 2005-07 while
‘Our coaches know that team better than any other coaches do, so they are going to have all the strategies,’ Reddy said. ‘They are going to prepare us the best way possible and all we have to do is execute what they say.’‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
No team ever wants to lose by 17 goals, but in some ways that game helped catapult UMass into the NCAA Tournament. Since that humbling loss, which dropped them to a 3-6 record, UMass went 8-1, capturing its first Atlantic 10 Championship since 2000.
‘Our attack is different, we’ve played a lot more games since we’ve played them and we’ve grown a lot as a team,’ senior defender Jackie Rosenzweig said.
The Minutewomen’s offense has improved dramatically since the start of conference play, averaging 14.3 goals per game including the A-10 Tournament. The attack is led by Jackie Lyons, whose 70 points (44 goals, 26 assists) are four shy of the UMass single season record.
Whether the offense can play at that level against the Wildcats’ defense, which holds opponents to an average of 6.53 goals per game, second in the NCAA, remains to be seen.
One of the keys to the Minutewomen pulling off the upset will be winning the draw. Northwestern is used to controlling the draw circle winning 315 draw controls against 174 opposing wins. NU uses that advantage to go on large scoring runs without allowing the opponent to touch the ball.
Reddy has been the top player on the draw for UMass setting an Atlantic 10 record for most draw controls with 77. Reddy and teammate Holly Drown (43 draw controls) have to be competitive in the circle.
‘If we can take the draw from [NU] I think we can take them out of the game,’ Drown said. ‘I think they’d get a little rattled if we gave them a nice battle on the draw because they are used to winning them all the time.’
The Minutewomen know they will have their hands full on defense again. The Wildcats average an NCAA-leading 17.58 goals per game, their leading scorer Hannah Nielson leads the nation in points scored with 122.
Nielson scored four goals and assited on four more against the Minutewomen in their first meeting, and UMass cannot allow a repeat performance if it wants to stay competitive.
‘I think defensively we are in a lot better shape to force outside shots,’
There will be a lot of pressure on
UMass understands that almost no one seems to gives it a chance to beat Northwestern, but Venechanos is looking forward to the ch
allenge.
‘I think this is fun. It’s exciting, I think we’re approaching it like we’re going to the biggest show and [we’re playing] against the best,’ Venechanos said. ‘This is a great opportunity for us to show the improvement we have made since the last time we’ve played them.’
Scott Feldman can be reached a [email protected].
