Another undefeated Atlantic 10 regular season, the No.9 Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team secured the No.1 seed going into this weekends A-10 championships. As a reward for earning the top seed, the Minutewomen (16-1, 7-0 A-10) will begin their search for a fourth straight conference title against No. 4 seed George Washington.
UMass coach Angela McMahon recognizes the challenge will not be easy for the three-time defending champions and remains weary of the threat any team in the tournament poses.
“It’s sort of a new season where every single opponent wants to be in practice on Monday,” said McMahon. “That’s the goal. We want to be together as long as possible, and the only way that is going to happen is if we win.”
In its first meeting this season, UMass fired 23 goals past the Colonials (10-6, 4-3 A-10) en route to a 13-goal victory. Katie Ferris and Nina Sarcona collected four goals in the effort while Dayna Defliese registered a hat trick. Cori Murray, Lauren Terracciano, Jesse O’Donnell and Sam Rush all added two goals as well.
The Minutewomen pestered GWU for a full 60 minutes, collecting 19 turnovers, as well as registering 33 shots on target. UMass took an 11-6 lead into the half, and continued to pile the goals on in the second.
However, McMahon knows that the Colonials are a team that can’t be taken lightly.
“There definitely a feisty team that won’t back down and won’t give up,” said McMahon. “They have some serious threats on the offensive side of the game. Sarah Phillips is a great player, she’s one of the leaders, and they have a bunch of other players who are ready to step up and put the ball in the net.”
Senior attacker Phillips leads GWU in points with 79 (40 goals, 39 assists), but she isn’t at the top in the goals category. Classmate Megan Seidman has found the back of the net 42 times this season, to aid the Colonials in their return to the A-10 championship. GWU also boasts three more attackers over 20 goals.
The strength in attack is just as key for UMass as it is for the Colonials. The Minutewomen have totaled 70 more goals throughout the season than the Colonials have, 276-206.
Ferris, who missed the final two games of the season due to injury, is expected to return to the UMass side. The Minutewomen’s record point-getter recorded six points in the teams first meeting, on her way to a single-season record of 87.
However, Ferris hasn’t been alone in producing one of UMass’ strongest offensive seasons in the program’s history. Terracciano and O’Donnell both broke the 50 point barrier, and are also joined by Nina Sarcona and Rush in the 30-goal category.
McMahon also had praise for the GWU defensive unit that has allowed just 23 more goals through than UMass, 173-150.
“They have a great defensive unit, too,” said McMahon. “And I think that they’re ready to play, and compete come Friday.”
McMahon said the experience some of her upperclassmen athletes will be key in coming out of Friday’s game, as well as the tournament as a whole, on top. With a number of seniors and juniors having collected two or three championships in previous years, McMahon knows her players will cope with the pressure of a knock-out atmosphere.
“I do [think that experience is helpful],” said McMahon. “I think for the focus, the intensity and the composure, which is huge, as well as not getting rattled if we go down, or even if we’re up, they know how to handle that situation because they’ve been there before, when it comes to tournament play. We’re really going to rely on our veterans to lead us through the weekend.”
However, the whole team will be key in ensuring ball protection, which will be key for the Minutewomen if they wish to raise a fourth A-10 trophy. McMahon has stressed the importance of minimizing turnovers all season, but knows that teams will be hungrier to capitalize on mistakes in this weekend’s win or go home scenario.
“The key is minimizing turnovers,” said McMahon. “We’ve been inconsistent with that throughout the season, so that is something we are going to have to clean up in order to win.”
The semi-final between GWU and UMass starts at 3:30 in Richmond, Va., following the other A-10 championship matchup between Richmond and Duquesne.
Jeffrey Okerman can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Okerman.
