The Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team is off to an impressive 4-0 start this season and its defense is a big key to that success.

In Wednesday’s 17-5 win over New Hampshire, the Minutewomen forced 22 turnovers, picked up 19 ground balls and limited the Wildcats to just 11 shots, many of which were forced and bad shots.

“We stuck to our game plan. They have a couple of great players and we finally did a good job of limiting top players, which is something that we have been focusing on, because we hadn’t been doing a good job of that,” said UMass coach Angela McMahon. “So I think we really did a good job of limiting top players and minimizing the shots. Again we want to force outside shots and low angle shots and I think we did that today.

Whenever UNH got off a shot, they had to get it by goalkeeper Katie Florence, who was on top of her game yesterday afternoon. Florence made five saves and only gave up three goals in 38 minutes, 51 seconds before she was taken out of the game when it was already well in hand for the Minutewomen.

All of Florence’s saves were impressive ones and came at key times for UMass. Early in the game, she came up with saves on two straight possessions while the game was still close.

Later on in the first half, she made an impressive string of three saves in a row on one possession. Two of those saves were on point blank, free position opportunities and the other was a beautiful kick save, preventing the Wildcats from cutting into the Minutewomen’s big lead.

Not every defensive stat was beneficial for the Minutewomen, however. They committed 22 fouls, but McMahon shrugged off its importance, saying that the severe weather conditions were a big reason for it.
“In a game like today, you can’t really get on them too much about it,” said McMahon.

Guarino wins A-10 POW

Tanner Guarino may have had a quiet game against UNH yesterday, but she is coming off of an impressive week of play.

Her nine-point week earned her the Atlantic 10’s Player of the Week award. She is the second Minutewoman to earn the prestigious honor this year. Katie Ferris earned the award for her performance against Holy Cross on Feb. 15.

Guarino has had a fast start to the season, scoring eight goals and three assists in UMass’ four games. She currently sits in a tie for third place in points on the team with 11, along with Jesse O’Donnell.

Guarino had a stellar week last week in wins over Boston University and Marist. She scored seven of her eight goals in those two games and added on two assists.

Along with her nine points last week, Guarino shot 70 percent, picked up three ground balls, gained five draw controls and forced three turnovers.

While Guarino received the accolades for her performance against the Terriers in which she scored four goals and picked up five points, she didn’t shy away for crediting her teammates.

“We were moving the ball well, we were quick on our passes, we re-defended well, and got the ball back,” she said. “Everyone was moving on attack, which led to the team’s success.”

Guarino recorded a goal, her eighth of the season in UMass’ win over UNH on Wednesday despite limited playing time. Due to the lopsided score, McMahon took most of her starters out early in the second half.

Cameron McDonough can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_McDonough.