After concluding the non-conference portion of its season with wins over in-state rivals Northeastern and Boston University, the No. 11 Massachusetts field hockey team looks to carry that momentum over into Atlantic 10 play.
UMass begins its A-10 schedule against a struggling Saint Louis team on Saturday, the final game of a three-game road trip.
The Minutewomen (9-4), who moved up two spots in the latest NCAA rankings, will look to remain undefeated versus the Bilikens (1-10), who have had some major problems in the first half of the season. In last year’s matchup, UMass defeated the Billikens, 6-2, in Amherst to move to 10-0-0 all-time against its A-10 foe.
Coach Carla Tagliente said A-10 play brings a different level of excitement to the team, as well as importance.
“We just finished a huge segment of our season in non-conference play, so we’re moving on to the next part of our season which is A-10 play,” Tagliente said. “ Obviously A-10 games carries a different level of importance than non-conference matchups, and we just need to take care of business and win.”
In the past, the Minutewomen have had no trouble running through opponents in the A-10, and Tagliente hopes her team can keep this trend going and get off to a strong start in conference play this Saturday.
“The most important thing to us is not just getting off to a winning start, but making sure we perform well and execute in A-10 play and move through these games with a clean record without any major concerns,” Tagliente said.
While UMass may have a big advantage over the Billikens record-wise, Tagliente does not want her team to take this game lightly, and wants to make sure they avoid any chance of an upset occurring.
“I think there are examples every day of teams that may not be ranked very high that beat teams they should lose to, so it’s very important we don’t take them lightly,” she said. “We play them on their field which is not quite familiar to us, so for us our focus will be to start the game strong, get on the board quickly, and just take care of what we need to.
“I think getting through the trap of focusing on records is very important, as it may sound like a cliché but anybody can beat anybody on any given day. We are excited to start A-10 play and to go game-by-game and get victories.”
The Minutewomen hope they can exploit the defensive woes of SLU right away, as they have given up 68 goals this year, including 31 in the first half.
The journey for the Minutewomen to hold on to their A-10 conference crown begins on Saturday at SLU. Face-off for the contest is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.
Jason Kates can be reached at [email protected].
