Going into the season, goal number one for the Massachusetts field hockey team was gaining the top seed in the Atlantic 10 tournament. With a 1-0 win on Oct. 21st against Temple, that aim was met.
Goal number two for the Minutewomen was going undefeated in conference. This past Saturday, that mission was marked successfully as the Maroon and White used a 2-1 overtime victory over Richmond to propel itself to 6-0 in the A-10 (9-9 overall).
Now, UMass looks ahead to the conference tournament next weekend, when it hopes to meet goal number three – a pair of Atlantic 10 victories that would propel it to its sixth straight NCAA tournament.
“We did what we needed to do, and that was take care of Richmond,” Massachusetts Head Coach Patty Shea said. “The other part of our weekend was used as a dress rehearsal for the A-10 tournament.”
The weekend was not all successful for the Minutewomen, however, as memories of Saturday’s victory were quickly erased with a 1-0 Sunday loss to Virginia Commonwealth. It was only the third win of the season for the Rams, and ended the regular season for the Maroon and White on a somewhat sour note.
Only 1:28 into the game, Lauren Sparrow took a pass from Marilyn Baton and drove it by UMass keeper Ashley Egland. That would prove to be the only score, as the last 68 minutes of the contest would see no tallies from either side.
With only 30 seconds left, the Minutewomen had a chance to tie the game, but a Sarah Bohonowicz penalty corner shot was stopped by VCU goalie Abby Stiles, preserving her first-career shutout. Overall, the game was even on both sides, as the Rams managed a slim 13-12 shot advantage while both teams were able to garner seven corners.
“Virginia Commonwealth is a very deceiving team,” Shea said. “They are well-coached, have good speed and they put one in early. They came out with fire and held on – we just couldn’t put one in. Their record is not indicative of the type of team they have.”
Against Richmond it was a different story, as UMass was the one that took the early lead. Lindsay Abbott was able to notch her third goal of the year off a pass from Bohonowicz only 5:36 in, and the Maroon and White took its 1-0 lead into the half.
The score continued to stay that way for the majority of the second half as well, but with just over 12 minutes remaining, leading Spider scorer Heather Rice converted a penalty corner to knot things up at one. That sent the game into overtime, where Kaitlyn Byron knocked home the game-winner off a rebound of her own shot to give her team the win with 11:39 left in the frame.
Throughout the game, Egland shined in net for UMass, making 12 saves and keeping the Richmond offense relatively at bay. The Minutewoman defense was also outstanding, holding Rice to a single goal despite the fact that she has totaled 61 career scores throughout her illustrious four-year career.
“Their strength is Heather Rice,” Shea said. “Take care of her and you have taken care of the majority of their threats.”
Next Saturday, the Maroon and White will have to take this advice to heart again, as none other than Richmond stands in the way of an A-10 finals berth for UMass. The Spiders garnered the fourth and final seed in the tourney with a 3-1 Sunday win over Rhode Island, and will be looking for revenge when the two teams square off for the second time in a week next Saturday.
In the other A-10 semifinal game, St. Joseph’s will match up with West Chester in another repeat of one of last weekend’s games. This time around, the Hawks will be looking to avenge a 2-1 overtime loss for a chance to advance to the finals and play either UMass or Richmond.
“We need to clean up our corner unit, balance in the different parts of the circle and improve our communication on defense,” Shea said. “But we’ll be fine. I’ll put our team up against anybody.”
Postseason play begins next Saturday with a 12:00 start in Philadelphia.
