When the Massachusetts women’s soccer team takes the field this weekend in a pair of games, at Holy Cross on Friday and at home against Vermont on Sunday, half of the starting lineup will be comprised of freshmen and sophomores.

For most teams, a lineup featuring five underclassmen would signal a rebuilding year, but for the Minutewomen (2-2-1), the group is actually quite experienced.

The four sophomores in the starting lineup: Britt Canfield, Jenny Roehrig, Tina Rodriguez and Kaelyn Caldwell all saw a lot of action last year as freshmen. And the lone freshman to crack the lineup thus far, Vanessa Patry, has shown that she is more than capable of making the transition to the college game, as she is the team’s leading scorer.

One way that UMass coach Jim Rudy believes his young players will gain experience is by playing against top competition. Last weekend certainly provided tough opponents as the Minutewomen played two Big East teams, losing 4-0 to UConn and tying St. John’s 1-1.

Rudy believes that his younger players learned a great deal from the UConn game, despite the lopsided final score.

“They certainly got experience and education,” Rudy said. “They got to see the speed of a high-level Division I game against UConn. The speed of the players and the physicality poses a challenge.”

The aspect of UConn’s game that Rudy hopes his team will learn from and use is the way the Huskies played at a high rate of speed while maintaining skill. After seeing a team play at that level, Rudy feels that his players came to the realization that that is how they will need to play if they want to be a top team.

While playing against UConn and St. John’s last weekend should help his team play better against tough competition, Rudy knows that the best way for his players to improve is simply through getting playing time.

“Last year a lot of the sophomores got serious playing time,” Rudy said. “And then in the winter and spring, they got more work in and a better understanding of the expectations I have for them. We definitely have a strong base for the future. There’s been a step from last year to this, and it should get even better next year when they begin to take on leadership roles. Right now they are making progress.”

Of course, with such a young team, Rudy must have older, more experienced players to lead their teammates. Rudy certainly has a strong core of upperclassmen, with senior co-captains Lindsey Bellini and Amy Maffucci, joined by senior Tiffany Hamill, and juniors Nadia Villarroel, Stephanie Barrett and Kristin Walker.

“This team has very strong captains with Maffucci and Bellini,” Rudy said. “There are very few agendas as opposed to past years. The focus is the team, not the individual. All of the seniors and juniors are acting with maturity and leadership.

“It’s enjoyable to listen to them during halftime before I come over to talk to the team. They are already talking and trying to solve things on their own.”