PJ Stanley/Collegian

The Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team was picked to finish second in the Atlantic 10 Conference, but has lost against some strong teams – including two ranked opponents – at home and has yet to play a conference game this season.

The Minutewomen (1-3) play six teams this year that are ranked in the Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Top 20, including Northwestern, Maryland and Yale. UMass has suffered three consecutive losses, and faces a challenge in its first road matchup at No. 13 Dartmouth tomorrow.

It took UMass attacker Kathleen Typadis nearly 53 minutes to score against Harvard on Saturday afternoon, as the Minutewomen went on to lose, 20-11, to the Crimson. Typadis now has four goals this year, but is not nearly on pace to match the 52 goals she scored last season.

The senior had three shots on goal, but was relatively quiet during the course of the game. Typadis, who broke the single-season scoring record with 52 goals last year, will look to increase her recent output and try to come close to last year’s totals.

She has scored in 45 consecutive games going into Wednesday’s matchup with the Big Green and is the nation’s No. 3 active goal scorer. Typadis needs just 36 more goals to set the career scoring record at UMass.

Typadis was one of 44 players nationally selected to the 2008 Tewaarton Watch List this season, an award given to the top collegiate lacrosse player in the nation. Adding to her list of credentials, the Minutewoman captain has been named to the All A-10 squad twice and had a record six goals in a victory against Albany last year, along with a .520 shooting percentage.

Last June, Typadis was one of 98 players selected to compete for the United States Women’s Lacrosse Developmental and Elite teams, which represent the highest level of women’s lacrosse in the nation.

Typadis has started every game of her career and looks to become more consistent as the season goes on.

McCormick continues stellar start

After redshirting all of last season with an ACL injury, midfielder Kaytlin McCormick has come back strongly, leading the team in goals (10), assists (four) and points (14).

The junior had a pair of goals in Saturday’s loss to Harvard, despite being ejected in the second half. She also recorded a hat trick against No. 15 Boston University on Feb. 27 and leads the team in shots on goal. She is tied with midfielder Holly Drown with four free position goals.

As a freshman in 2006, McCormick played in every game and was the team’s second-leading scorer. She was also among the team leaders in groundballs (39), draw controls (27) and caused turnovers (13). McCormick scored in 16-of-18 games played and netted four hat tricks in her rookie campaign.

“It feels great to be back,” McCormick said after the Feb. 19 victory over Holy Cross.

Lyons named A-10 Rookie of the Week

Midfielder Jaclyn Lyons was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week, scoring in her first collegiate game in the Minutewomen’s lone win against Holy Cross in the season-opener on Feb. 19. The freshman also had a big week, scoring two goals on three shots and collecting four groundballs and five turnovers in her first two collegiate games. She leads the team in groundballs and turnovers.

Pasquantonio steps up

Before this season, junior Julie Pasquantonio had only played in 14 career games at UMass. But this season, the attacker has seen her minutes increase, and has already surpassed her career-high in goals and points. With five goals and six points through four games, she is second on the team in both categories.

Veteran defense coming up big

The UMass defense returned all of its starting defenders this season, as Julie Papeleo, Jackie Rosenzweig and Ashley King have been impressive for the Minutewomen. Rosensweig has started every game of her career, while Papeleo enters her third year as a starter. The sophomore King started every game last year and was a 2007 Rookie All-American.

“They’ve been doing a good job of mentoring the younger kids and keeping everybody on the same page,” UMass coach Alexis Venechanos said, early in the season. “They definitely [have been] helping out our goalies, [and] making sure they have the confidence they need to mesh on the defensive end.”

David Brinch can be reached at [email protected].