The Massachusetts women’s soccer team is currently on a two-game slide after dropping their most recent matches to Michigan and Oakland on the road. Sophomore goaltender Emily Cota has played well between the pipes for the Minutewomen, but an unproductive offense and frustrated defense has not made her job easy as of late.
UMass is currently 3-4-0, with two of their victories featuring shutout performances by the defense. Cota and the Minutewomen defense blanked Vermont on Sept. 3 and Fairfield on Sept. 12, both by a score of 4-0. Cota has allowed thirteen goals in seven games, with a goals-against average of 1.81 while making 34 saves with a .723 save percentage.
Before the weekend trip to Michigan, Cota had a season-high eight saves against the Catamounts and turned away seven versus the Stags. Her save percentage was at a season high of .828, and her best goals against average was 0.97 after the shutout.
The ensuing games were not as pleasant for Cota, who was lit up 5-0 against the Wolverines in Ann Arbor, Mich. and then let up three more to Oakland last Sunday.
The weight has not fallen just on Cota’s shoulders, however. The team defense has been lacking in the past two games, as it allowed 37 shots on goal, 18 of which have been shots on goal. The UMass defensive front was battling Big Blue all game, allowing 20 shots and 11 on goal. The defense held up against the Golden Grizzlies, only outshooting UMass 17-16. Seven of those shots were on goal as the Minutewomen fell 3-2.
“We just played poorly against Michigan in just about every aspect and we could not match their intensity,” UMass coach Ed Matz said. “Against Oakland we struggled to get any intensity going for ourselves and we did not play very well at all.”
The offense was non-existent on Friday in Ann Arbor. UMass only had four shots the entire game, two of which were shots on goal and both were denied. Michigan held the advantage on corner kicks 5-1 and on fouls 13-12. UMass has 10 less corner kick attempts than its opponents this fall along with 11 more cumulative fouls overall. The Minutewomen are playing tough, but sometimes reckless, as they have accumulated five yellow cards to their opponents none.
The producers on the offensive end have been Deanna Colorassi, who has eight points on four goals on 10 shot attempts. Colorassi scored twice against Fairfield, as well as against UVM and Oakland. Despite being the points leader of the team, she has only started one game this season.
Junior Meghan Collins has chipped in for five points on two goals and an assist. Senior Ashley Hamel has two goals for the Minutewomen, including the game-winner in double-overtime against New Hampshire. Senior midfielder Therese Smith has gotten the bulk of the shots for UMass with 26, but putting just 12 on goal. Smith had one goal against Golden Grizzlies.
“Rarely will we be the deeper and more talented team on paper, so if we cannot come out and play hard with intensity and do everything right, its going to be very hard for us to win,” Matz said.
The Minutewomen are averaging 15.6 shots per game, and a .505 shots on goal percentage.
Michael Counos can be reached at [email protected].
