This will be the first meeting between the two schools in 20 years. The Minutewomen have dominated the all-time series, holding a 10-3-1 advantage over the Bears. The Maroon and White have won the last six contests against Brown, including their last meeting which came on Oct. 14, 1990, a game in which UMass prevailed 2-1.
UMass enters Thursday’s contest at 3-4-0, while Brown sports a record of 3-2-1. This game against the Bears will wrap up the Minutewomen’s non-conference opponents for the season before returning home on Sunday to begin a three-game home stretch against Harvard, before starting Atlantic 10 play against Charlotte and St. Louis.
The defense will have to deal with the Bear’s leading scorer, senior forward Gina Walker, who leads the team with six points on two goals and two assists. Freshman Kiersten Berg and senior Erika Lum have also added to Brown’s offense with two goals apiece.
“We aren’t going to do anything different to prepare for our game against Brown,” said UMass coach Ed Matz. “We’ve had some good practices the past few days and we are looking to go out and get a win.”
UMass will face an interesting situation in net, as the Bears are running a two-goaltender rotation. Freshman Amber Bledsoe has started every game in net for the Bears this season, but has only played 270 minutes, compared to fellow rookie MC Barrett who has seen 300 minutes of action. Both have shared early success this season as Bledsoe sports a 1.00 goals against average and a .727 save percentage, while Barrett has a 1.20 goals against average and .846 save percentage.
UMass will look to get a victory as they were disappointed in their weekend trip to Michigan. The Minutewomen were shutout 5-0 last Friday against the Wolverines and then a suffered a disappointing upset to Oakland. UMass dropped the game to the Golden Grizzlies 3-2 at OU Soccer Field.
Also lost in the road trip was sophomore defender Jess Howe, who will sit out due to an injury suffered in the Oakland game. Howe was a starter on the defensive unit that has been consistent for UMass this season.
“Certainly, the loss of Jess will do nothing but hurt us as we go forward, but this is when the season gets tough when players begin to get injured and tired as the season goes on,” said Matz.
Scoring on a rebound off a header attempt by freshman Brittany Moore during the Oakland game, Deanna Colorassi has been a success story as a transfer for the Minutewomen. The Golden Grizzlies regained the lead however in the 51st minute with a goal by Sarah Lynch, but senior Therese Smith knotted up the contest at two apiece. Sophomore goaltender Emily Cota booted a goal kick that was headed forward by freshman Jen Houtman to Smith for the goal in the 68th minute.
The Minutewomen lost the game dramatically in the 82nd minute with a goal in the top right corner of the net by Lynch. She was assisted by Nicole DeLuca. Cota registered three saves in the losing effort while Grizzlies’ goaltender Shannon Coley turned aside six.
The game begins at 4:30 p.m.
Michael Counos can be reached at [email protected].
