Records were set and milestones were met at McGuirk Stadium on Friday as the No. 10 Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team easily handled Saint Joseph’s.
The Minutewomen (12-1, 3-0 Atlantic 10) rode a 14-goal run to victory over the Hawks (4-8, 0-3 A-10), 19-4, to extend their winning streak to five games. But, despite the massive win, UMass coach Angela McMahon had some pretty stern words for her team.
“I felt like we were playing pretty sloppy, and had way too many turnovers,” said McMahon. “We just weren’t playing our normal selves, but we got it together in the second half, came out strong, and made the most of our offensive opportunities.
“I was glad we rebounded the way we did, but we need to make sure we are playing a full 60 minutes.”
Sophomore Katie Ferris (six goals, one assist) came into the day three goals short of her 100th career goal and six points shy of the UMass single-season points record. The attacker began her assault on those numbers right away.
One minute, 46 seconds after the opening draw control, Ferris slotted home her first tally on the day. Just 35 seconds later, she fired another one home for her 43rd goal of the season.
Sloppiness began to set in, however, as the Minutewomen lost a number of possessions between their second and third goals. McMahon attributed some of the errant passes to her team trying to make the “home run pass,” as a number of passes sailed through the air, far out of reach of the Minutewomen’s sticks.
“[I told them] just to make the easy pass,” said McMahon. “We kept trying to make a skip pass, a 30-yard bomb, and we just didn’t need to do that. We could make easy, shorter passes, and we started to do that in the second half.”
Senior attacker Nina Sarcona (one goal, two assists) helped UMass regroup as she scored the Minutewomen’s third goal, forcing SJU to use its first half timeout.
Initial returns made the timeout look like a stroke of genius. With a little help from a number of UMass fouls, Val Paolucci and Meghan McDevitt brought the Hawks back within one goal as they trailed 3-2, but they wouldn’t get any closer from that point on.
Then, 46 seconds later, Ferris completed her hat trick, reaching the 100-goal milestone and moving her into ninth place all-time in the UMass record book. She has five games left in the season and two years of eligibility remaining.
Ferris didn’t stop there, however, with another record still in sights. At the 18:51 mark, Amy Tiernan created a turnover, allowing Ferris to collect a ground ball, turn up field, and fire past netminder Alisha Aquilino for an easy score.
Sam Rush (three goals, one assist) disrupted Ferris’ scoring rush by registering her first goal of the day and her 20th of the season at the 9:14 mark. Sarcona then fed Ferris off of a turnover for her fifth goal before Cori Murray (four goals) closed out the first half scoring to make it 8-2.
Senior goalkeeper Katie Florence was to thank for keeping the Hawks at just two goals through the first half, making a number of great saves. First, Florence denied Grace Dinn on a free position shot, and further kept Dinn off the score sheet later in the half. SJU broke clean through the Minutewomen defense with two minutes left in the half, but Florence got down to smother an attempted five-hole shot. Her performance did not go unnoticed by McMahon.
“Katie [Florence] played great,” said McMahon. “She’s showing what she means as a senior, team leader, a captain. She does everything for us, and we unfortunately need to rely on her a little more than we would like to.”
The Minutewomen picked up right where they left off in the second half. Lauren Terracciano (two goals, four assists) was aided by Tanner Guarino (one goal, two assists) for her first goal. Jesse O’Donnell (one goal, one assist) quickly added another from the eight-meter position to make it 10-2.
Guarino’s goal extended the Minutewomen’s lead to 12-2, but it was the provider who would get all the notice. Ferris put a pass through for Guarino who finished cleanly, getting Ferris her 75th record-breaking point of the season.
“She had a great day,” said McMahon of Ferris. “She’s had a great season, and she’s really done a great job of making a lot of little improvements from last year. She did really well as a freshman, but we’re putting a little more on her this year, and she’s been minimizing her turnovers, better shooting percentage, all the little things that she’s been focusing on that’s allowing her to have a great season.”
There were no distractions resulting from the record-breaking performance. Kelsey McGovern (one goal, three assists) got back to business, scoring off a Terracciano assist, to make it 13-2. Ferris added her sixth goal before Cori Murray added a pair to extend the lead to 16-2.
Rush concluded the scoring run with her second strike of the day. Rush and Murray sandwiched their final goals between a pair of consolation goals for the Hawks, with Jen Peters (one goal, one shot) and McDevitt closing out the score sheet.
The Minutewomen now begin their final stretch to end the season, with the A-10 tournament in sight as well as an NCAA tournament berth. McMahon knows that now is not a time slow down.
“I think we’re in a good spot,” said McMahon. “We definitely have done some good things, with some good connections on attack, and our defense stepping up. But we have a lot of improvements still to go.”
Next up, UMass travels to Pittsburgh, Pa. to battle Duquesne in another A-10 battle this Friday.
Jeffrey Okerman can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Okerman.
