The Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team had a great opportunity to put a stranglehold on the Atlantic 10 this weekend during their two-game road trip against conference opponents.
The Minutewomen (2-8, 1-2 A-10) had a chance to improve their Atlantic 10 record to 3-0 with two wins, but when Sunday evening came around, they were heading back to Amherst with two more losses.
UMass was blown out by Richmond (6-6, 2-1 A-10) by a score of 19-7 on Friday, and dropped its fifth one-goal game of the season to George Washington (7-5, 3-0 A-10) on Sunday, 11-10.
Friday’s contest against the Spiders wasn’t close at any point of the game. Richmond came out of the gates on fire and scored the first eight goals of the contest in less than 15 minutes.
Richmond’s Polly Purcell and Kristen Habicht each had hat tricks before UMass was able to get on the board.
The Minutewomen’s leading point-scorer, Tracey Drown, knew exactly why Richmond played its best game of the season.
“We beat them last season (in the Atlantic 10 semifinals). We were down seven goals with six minutes left. We tied it and then won in overtime,” Drown said.
Drown acknowledged that Richmond just wanted this game more than UMass did.
“They wanted to kill us. They had revenge in mind. They knew everything we were going to do,” said Drown, who led the Minutewomen with two goals and an assist in the game.
Richmond’s scoring attack was led by Purcell and Libby Berlacher with six goals each and a five-goal performance from Habicht. Allison Nuzzi contributed with five assists.
UMass had a chance to salvage one win out of the weekend in Washington D.C. on Sunday against George Washington, but they fell apart in the second half.
Hope Zelinger scored her third goal of the game with just over 16 minutes to play in the second half to put UMass up 10-7, but that was the last goal the Minutewomen would score.
The Colonials scored four goals in the game’s final eight minutes to lock up their victory. Five-time Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Week Laura Hostetler scored three of those goals including the game-winner. She led George Washington with four goals and two assists in the game.
Six of UMass’ eight losses this season have come by a combined total of seven goals, and second half letdowns have really destroyed what could have been a great start for the talented team.
“We need to learn how to handle the pressure (of playing in a close game). We have a somewhat lack of experience. We need to play together from the beginning all the way to the end,” said Drown, who scored two goals in the game.
The Minutewomen have four Atlantic 10 games remaining on their schedule, so they still have time to put a string of wins together in order to qualify for the A-10 tournament.
“We need to forget about everything we have or haven’t done. Our team is so talented. It’s so frustrating. Sunday (against Temple) is a do or die game,” Drown said.
