The Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team began spring break with an unblemished record, but concluded its week by losing its first game of the season.
The Minutewomen dropped a 10-8 contest on Saturday to No. 15 Albany (6-0) at Garber Field and fell to 6-1.
“We’re pretty bummed out with how the result came out today, but I’ve got to give credit to Albany,” said UMass head coach Angela McMahon. “They really came out to play and gave us a tough game.”
Albany’s Taylor Frink led the way on offense with four goals and three assists, helping preserve the Great Danes’ perfect record. Jodi Battaglia supported Frink with two goals and two assists.
Attackers Katie Ferris (three goals), Jackie Lyons (two goals), Jesse O’Donnell (two goals) and Nina Sarcona (two assists) led the way for UMass. Junior goalie Katie Florence also stopped nine shots in the cage.
Ferris’ hat trick was her fourth in a row, raising her goal total on the year to a team-high 17 despite playing in just five games.
The Minutewomen never led in the game, and every time they made an attempt to overtake Albany, the Great Danes responded. UMass cut the Albany lead to one goal on six separate occasions and had an opportunity to overtake Albany late in the second half.
Down 8-6 halfway into the second half, UMass used goals from Lyons and O’Donnell to knot the score at eight. With UMass finally eying a lead, the Great Danes received back-to-back goals from Frink and Kathleen Lennon to put the game away.
“In one respect, it’s good to see us come back. Our backs were against the wall and we came back and tied the game,” said McMahon. “In the end, we really needed a big play, and we needed someone to step up, and that didn’t really happen.”
The Minutewomen were unable to find the back of the net with any regularity, even though they took strong shots. They peppered Albany goalkeeper Anna Berman with 33 shots, nine of them on goal. Despite the shooting onslaught, only eight of those shots beat the goalie.
The dismal 24.2 percent shooting effort was particularly bizarre for a Maroon and White team that has shot the ball at an impressive 44.5 percent on the season.
“They really put pressure on the ball and double-teamed us quickly when we were looking to drive. I think we just need to do a better job of being aware and, obviously, putting our shots away, because we had 33 shots. We had some pretty good opportunities to score. We need to just capitalize on those,” said McMahon.
Before Saturday’s loss, the Minutewomen were having a very successful week. They began their spring break by beating Stony Brook at home, a win that vaulted them up the national ranks from No. 18 to No. 12.
UMass piled up an insurmountable 14-goal first half lead, and saw nine different players score en route to a 20-13 win against Stony Brook.
Ferris and Sophomore Cori Murray led the team with four goals apiece, while Sam Rush and Haley Smith each came off the bench to record hat tricks. Danielle Pelletier added a pair of goals, and Lyons and Kelsey McGovern each provided two assists.
The Minutewomen dominated SBU, winning just about every relevant statistical comparison. UMass had an advantage in shots taken (40-27), groundballs (21-17), draw controls (20-14) and turnover margin (plus 4).
McMahon and company have games this week against Marist and Northwestern. The Northwestern game will be played Saturday at 7 p.m. under the lights at McGuirk Stadium.
Jackson Alexander can be reached at [email protected].
