Can the city of Philadelphia become the City of Sisterly Love for the Massachusetts women’s soccer team this weekend?
The Minutewomen (8-2, 5-0 Atlantic 10) roll back into Philly after a weekend at home to take on two more A-10 rivals.
The City of Brotherly Love last played host to the “Ladies in Red” on Oct. 7. That trip resulted in a 1-0 nail-biting victory over fourth-place LaSalle. Katelyn Jones’ goal in the 67th minute gave the Minutewomen their sixth win on the season.
This weekend, the Maroon and White will take on two teams that could be considered lesser opponents, ninth-place St. Joseph’s (4-4-2, 1-1-2 A-10) and tenth-place Temple (6-5-1, 1-3-1 A-10).
UMass holds a lifetime 10-2 record combined against this weekend’s opponents with its last loss coming on Oct. 2, 1998 against Temple at home – the only year a Jim Rudy-coached UMass team ended with an overall record below .500 (10-11).
With next week’s trip south to third-place Richmond and fifth-place George Washington, Rudy will be making sure his team isn’t overlooking this weekend’s opponents.
Both St. Joe’s and Temple have lost three of the teams’ last four games on the pitch and could easily be overlooked by a team looking ahead to key conference matchups that could determine the success of the 2001 season as a whole.
Senior Kathleen Machamer will lead the Minutewomen into battle in Philly. The reigning A-10 Player of the Week and UMass/WHMP Player of the Week is second on the team in scoring after racking up three assists in her team’s 5-0 shellacking of St. Bonaventure on Friday, Oct. 12 and scoring a hat trick against Duquesne – a 7-0 UMass victory.
Rudy’s “crafty left-footed senior” has impressed her coach with sound leadership and smart play at her midfield position.
“[Kat] is probably the smartest player on the team as far as decision-making,” Rudy said.
Rudy also points to No. 11’s terrific work ethic both on and off the field as leading to the Colorado native’s success.
“She has really worked hard and maximized her potential as an athlete and as a student-athlete,” Rudy said.
Freshman forward Stephanie Santos added another award to her increasing list of accolades this week, as well. UMass’ leading point-scorer was named the A-10 Freshman of the Week after scoring two goals in last weekend’s victories at Totman Field. The goals were her fifth and sixth of the season.
Both Machamer and Santos will lead Rudy’s offensive attack against two strong goalkeepers in their respective home nets. In five conference games, Hawks goalie Christy Ganc has posted 20 saves, while Owls freshman keeper Jackie Mauro kept her team close in two tough losses to George Washington (2-1) and Richmond (1-0). The Philly native made 13 saves in the two matches.
But the Minutewomen have been nearly untouchable in their last eight games, winning seven of them and allowing just four goals in those seven victories. UMass has netted 27 goals against quality competition in the same time span, including La Salle and Rhode Island-both top five teams in the A-10.
Knee-deep in the A-10 schedule, UMass must use these games against struggling teams in Philadelphia this weekend to continue its momentum and gain more confidence before taking on the teams that are enjoying the same success as they are.
In the final four games of the season, the Maroon and White will take on three of the top six teams in the A-10, including the only other team undefeated in conference play, the Dayton Flyers.
