The Massachusetts women’s soccer team saw their five-game unbeaten streak come to an end over the weekend as they were shutout in back-to-back games by Atlantic 10 foes Saint Louis and Charlotte.
On Friday night, UMass (3-6-2, 2-2-0 A-10) could not combat a dominant effort by Saint Louis. Billiken sophomore Andrea Barklage had a career night as the Billikens shutout the Minutewomen and scored a season-high four goals.
UMass had an extremely difficult time mustering up any sort of offense and did not attempt a shot in the first half. During that period, Saint Louis (5-5-2, 2-1-1) put three shots past freshman goalie Emily Cota. The first came just under 14 minutes into the first half when junior Ashley Brazill tapped in a missed-header by Barklage after a corner kick by senior Ashley Hayes.
Following a foul by UMass, Barklage scored her fourth goal of the season on a long pass from the left side by senior Susan Frederickson to push the lead to 2-0. The Billikens struck again just under seven minutes later when Sally Sinclair put in her first goal of the season on an assist from fellow senior Kelly Waeckerle.
The Billikens then started off the second half with seven unsuccessful hot attempts. Junior Ashley Hamel put the first offensive statistic on the board for UMass when she recorded the team’s first shot at the 58 minute, six second mark. Saint Louis goalie Hannah Perry saved the shot as well as an attempt by redshirt junior Meghan Gould five minutes later.
Barklage scored the Billikens final goal of the evening with a header off a restart at 66:19. Her two goals and five points are both single-game career highs.
UMass had one last chance to derail the shutout in the game’s waning minutes. With 29 second remaining, junior Therese Smith fired a shot that barely missed the net and hit the post.
The Minutewomen’s offensive woes continued on Sunday as they became the latest victim of Charlotte’s explosive offensive attack as the 49ers won their sixth-consecutive game.
The game mirrored Friday’s contest, as UMass lost 4-0 and allowed three goals in the first half. The 49ers (10-2-0, 4-0-0) scored all three first half goals within a 12-minute period that started at the 17:37 mark. After five unsuccessful attempts, senior Hailey Beam scored from 17 feet out and was assisted by sophomore Oni Bernard and junior Sam Huecker.
A little over four minutes later, junior Danielle Mayeaux doubled the 49er’s lead by chipping a corner kick from Whitney Bryant inside the near post. Kirby Stenard then put in the final goal of the half at the 28:59 mark. She headed in a pass from Whitney Weinraub inside the far post.
Redshirt junior Sydney Stoll and Hamel combined for all four of the Minutewomen’s shots in the first half. Both of Stoll’s shots were on goal, but she did not have any attempts the rest of the way.
Therese Smith attempted the first of four second half shots for UMass, but it was saved by Charlotte goalie Lauren Brown. A little over nine minutes later, Brown recorded two more saves on shots by senior Jacquelyn Desjardins and sophomore Rachel Miranda. Miranda’s shot was her fifth shot-on-goal in six attempts this season.
The final UMass shot of the game came on a header by Hamel at the 65:19 mark. Charlotte scored for the final time, two minutes and 40 seconds later. Freshman India Winford scored her second goal of the season after deflecting a long pass from Bernard past Cota.
Cota allowed more goals in each of the two games than she had in her previous eight. She also tallied 22 saves over the weekend to raise her total to 52 on the season.
“It was a combination of travel and a hard road trip,” UMass coach Angela Napoli said in regards to the team’s disappointing weekend. “There were a number of reasons. One was the travel. Two, we faced two good teams playing different systems. It was hard to prepare for the transitions. Three…both teams were able to identify our weaknesses.”
Mike Mastone can be reached at [email protected].
