The No. 17 Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team went 2-1 over spring break, improving its record to 9-1 on the season.

The Minutewomen closed out their non-conference schedule in impressive fashion, defeating Siena (2-7), 19-6, on Saturday afternoon at the friendly confines of McGuirk Stadium.

Three players registered a hat trick for UMass, including Katie Ferris, who had four goals, along with Lauren Terracciano and Sam Rush, who had three apiece.

Ferris also led the team in assists with four. She now leads the team by double digits in goals (32), assists (24) and points (56).
Cori Murray, Tanner Guarino and Ellie Bullitt all scored two goals. Murray also assisted on three other goals.

Goalkeeper Katie Florence turned in a defensive masterpiece, only allowing one goal and making six saves in her 25 minutes and 22 seconds of action.

In a recurring theme, the Minutewomen committed far more fouls than its opponent, but the rough play didn’t stop UMass from grabbing an easy win against the Saints.

UMass outlasts Albany

The Minutewomen responded well to their first loss of the season – suffered at the hands of No. 1 Northwestern on March 17 – winning a 12-11 overtime thriller at No. 13 Albany (6-2) on March 21.

Nina Sarcona’s only goal was the game-winner midway through the overtime period.

Both teams were close the entire game, as the biggest lead was three goals for Albany on three different occasions.

Ferris and Jesse O’Donnell led the Minutewomen in scoring with three goals apiece. Ferris also picked up three assists for an impressive six-point game. Rounding out the scoring, Dayna Defliese scored two goals and Rush, Guarino, Melissa Carelli and Sarcona all had one.
Sarcona also tallied an assist and won six draw controls in her impressive all-around performance.

UMass still was outperformed when it came to turnovers, ground balls and fouls, but it pulled out the victory nonetheless.

Florence and the defense responded well after the thumping they received at the hands of Northwestern in the previous game.

Albany won the opening draw control in overtime, but the Minutewomen’s stingy defense was able to force a turnover, which led to Sarcona’s game winner.

First loss

The Minutewomen suffered their first loss of the season, 19-7, on March 17 when they traveled to No. 1 Northwestern (7-0).

UMass got off to a slow start, giving up 13 goals in the first half, and it was unable to recover despite a more competitive showing in the second half.

The Wildcats dominated the game in every statistical category. Northwestern outshot the Minutewomen, 34-17, and picked up 10 more groundballs than UMass. The Wildcats also gave up fewer turnovers then the Minutewomen and they dominated the draw control battle.

The statistical killer for UMass, however, was its continued issue with committing fouls. The Minutewomen committed a staggering 26 fouls compared to Northwestern’s eight. Seven of those fouls were also free-position opportunities for the Wildcats, who turned five of those into easy goals.

Florence struggled against the high power offense of the No. 1 Wildcats, giving up 10 goals and only making one save in her 21 minutes on the field. Backup goalkeeper Rachel Vallarelli had her struggles as well, giving up an additional nine goals while making seven saves.

The leading goal scorer for the Minutewomen was Sarcona, who scored three, while no other Minutewoman scored more than one.

Northwestern’s stifling defense held UMass’ leading scorer, Ferris, to no goals and one assist.

The Wildcats were led in scoring by Shannon Smith, who scored six goals and picked up one assist for a game-high seven points.

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