Brian Tedder/Collegian

Today’s game against No.15 Boston University will mark the second time in as many games that the Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team will face a ranked opponent. The last time these teams met, UMass (1-1) upset the then-ranked No.16 Terriers behind hat tricks from three different Minutewomen. BU is led by junior midfielder Sarah Dalton. Dalton is on the preseason watch list for the Tewaaraton trophy. She’s joined by senior captains Molly Collins (team-leading 37 ground balls in 2007) and Lauren Morton (41 goals in 2007). The Minutewomen will counter with another name on the Tewaaraton watch list, senior attack Kathleen Typadis. In last year’s contest, Typadis had four points on three goals and one assist. The inability to cause turnovers hindered UMass against No. 3 Maryland in its last game, and caused turnovers weren’t a huge factor in last year’s contest against the Terriers, either. Look for the attack position to be one of importance for UMass today. Freshman Jackie Lyons could be a spark plug for the Maroon and White in this game. Against Holy Cross, Lyons had two goals, four ground balls and four caused turnovers. Junior Kaytlin McCormick will also be a presence at the attack position. McCormick has the team lead in goals with five, three of which came in the losing effort against Maryland.

If the Minutewomen hope to win against the Terriers – a team that has won the America East Championship each of the last three years – they need to control the tempo of the game.

UMass coach Alexis Venechanos knows BU will come prepared for the Minutewomen, already knowing what its offense can do to them.

“We’re very familiar with each other,” Venechanos said. “BU knows what we’re going to do, and we know what they’re going to do and [we’ll have to see] who’s going to step up and do it better.”

Venechanos constantly preaches the importance of ball possession to her players. She sees possession as one of the keys to victory against BU.

“We’re just trying to get into some chemistry at [the attack position],” Venechanos said. “We have some new faces there. We really don’t care who scores the goals, we just want our players to score more goals than the other team.”

UMass has the potential to be just as quick as BU. The key is to make the Terriers play a slower game than they’re accustomed to. Venechanos plans to work with her attacks and focus on tempo this week in practice. She’ll work with the three attacks on both holding the ball securely and also spreading it around to find the open shot.

On defense, Venechanos wants to have her defenders understand and react better to the offensive schemes of the other team. The last time the two teams met, the Terriers were denied by goalkeeper Lauren McCarthy (12 saves).

Redshirt junior Krissy Anderson, freshman Colleen Speth and junior Jamie Whiteway are all vying for the starting position. However, none of the three candidates have had significant playing time. Anderson is a solid choice but is coming off a medical redshirt year, and Speth is another option. The freshman net minder has All-American credentials and tremendous upside.

Whiteway is a very quick and athletic player, which makes her a solid option as well. For now, the position is goalie by committee.

Mike Gillmeister can be reached at [email protected]