Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Katie Ferris asserting herself in lead role

Jeff Bernstein/Collegian

In last season’s third consecutive Atlantic 10 championship winning season, the Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team was led by Jackie Lyons’ 41 goals and 32 assists. However, following that 73-point output, she graduated, leaving a substantial hole the team needed to fill.

That season, then-freshman Katie Ferris claimed the single-season goal scoring record as her own, and this year, she’s now proving she can step in and fill that role. UMass coach Angela McMahon describes Ferris’ role as the “field general.”

“It’s a credit to her improving as a player,” said McMahon of her sophomore attacker, following a dominant win early in the season against UNH.

“Being sort of a field general, seeing the whole field and finding her teammates.”

Through 10 games this season, Ferris has 32 goals and 24 assists to her name. The 24 assists are already better than her total from her rookie campaign, when she notched 16 helpers.

In their strong 19-6 win over Siena, the No. 17 Minutewomen (9-1) were led by their field general, Ferris, who collected four goals and four assists.

Playing in her normal position behind the cage, Ferris was able to look across the field and watch the game develop. Having such a strong distributor behind the cage is pivotal for the UMass team, which prides itself on its strength of cutting through the middle to create goals.

In an overtime thriller against then-No. 13 Albany, Ferris tallied six points on a hat trick of goals and assists. Her most important of those strikes came in overtime, when she found senior draw-controller Nina Sarcona for the game-winning strike.

When the Minutewomen took to the road to face undefeated Northwestern, Ferris was shut down, and the offense struggled to break out against the No. 1 Wildcats’ defense.

Ferris recorded just a single assist in the 19-7 loss to Northwestern (9-0), and the score reflected the attacker’s struggles.

With conference play now beginning, with seven games on the schedule, Ferris is not only on pace to near her single-season record of 56 goals, but also finish with a record number of assists in her sophomore campaign.

Fouls still concerning

The Minutewomen have continued to struggle cleaning up their game, and the foul count in each of their games over break reflected that.
Despite dominating Siena from start to finish, UMass committed 27 fouls, seven of which led to free-position shots. The Saints only converted three of those free opportunities, but the number is worrying for McMahon, who knows that NCAA-caliber teams will reap the benefits of those fouls.

Albany was afforded eight free-position shots from UMass’ 27 fouls, but the Great Danes squandered five of the opportunities that could have seen them comfortably put the game away against the Minutewomen.

Towards the end of the second half, Albany wasted two free-position shots that could have put it in front. Following a clear, Jesse O’Donnell put UMass in front, before the Great Danes finally ended up sending the game to an overtime period on a free-position goal.

It was a different story in Evanston, Ill., where the No. 1 Wildcats converted five of the seven free-position opportunities they were granted. They were 5-for-5 in the first-half and were in complete control by halftime.

In the second half, the Northwestern side assured there would be no comeback by limiting themselves to just a single foul, while UMass committed 12 infractions, to bring its game total to 26.

The Minutewomen now begin their run to the A-10 tournament as conference play opens up this weekend with clashes at Richmond and George Washington.

Jeffrey Okerman can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Okerman.

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