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

No. 11 UMass women’s lacrosse prepare for A-10 opener against La Salle

UMass midfielder Melissa Carelli Robert (Rigo/Daily Collegian)
UMass midfielder Melissa Carelli (Robert Rigo/Daily Collegian)

Ever since Angela McMahon arrived in Amherst to coach the Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team three years ago, the Minutewomen have gone undefeated in Atlantic 10 play and have won three straight A-10 Tournament titles.

As the No. 11 Minutewomen (9-1) welcome La Salle (6-3) to McGuirk Stadium on Friday for their first A-10 game of the season, senior attacker Katie Ferris said she hopes the team’s recent dominance continues and leads to a sixth straight A-10 title this year.

“We don’t want to be the senior class that gives up that first A-10 loss,” she said. “I want to go all four years and not lose an A-10 game.”

UMass enters Friday’s game fresh off its first loss of the season to No. 7 Northwestern last Tuesday, while the Explorers enter on a three-game winning streak.

“They have a great team and they’ve had some recent success in some of their non-conference games,” McMahon said.  “We can’t take any breaks and there can’t be any lulls in the game.”

McMahon said the loss to the Wildcats was largely due to a 4-0 Northwestern run toward the end of the first half that carried over into the beginning of the second half.  She said that against La Salle and other future A-10 opponents, the team will have to play at a “high intensity for a full game, every game” in order to avoid similar runs.

Ferris said that she agreed that the team must maintain a full 60 minutes of focus entering the conference schedule.

“We don’t have room to just relax,” she said.  “We’re looking for a good seeding in the NCAA’s so we just need to capitalize on all these opportunities and really put (our opponents) away.”

McMahon stressed that effective team defense will be key in Friday’s matchup, as the Explorers have four players who have reached double-figures in scoring so far.

“They’re one of those teams that have a good balance,” McMahon said.  “There’s not really one person who runs the show for them.”

To combat this balanced offensive attack, McMahon said that UMass must continue applying increased pressure on La Salle’s attackers to force them to make quicker decisions.  As a result, McMahon said that these hurried judgments would lead to more “low angle shots.”

Senior defender Kelsey McGovern added that communication will be crucial to the Minutewomen’s defensive success.

“A good level of communication will help us through dealing with (La Salle’s offense),” she said. “If we’re all on the same page, working together and moving together, we’ll be OK.”

In addition, Ferris said that the turnover battle will be a major factor on Friday. Both teams head into their matchup with an average of more than 15 turnovers per game.

“Turnovers and draw controls are the (areas) you want to win every game,” she said.  “We just have to be smart and not turn it over ourselves.”

Ferris said that patience will be important in limiting these giveaways, especially following UMass’ loss to the Wildcats.

“We are going to be antsy because of the loss we just had,” she said.  “We’re going to be ready to go out there, but we just have to keep our heads on and be patient.”

As for creating turnovers on defense, McMahon said that by gaining possession and quickly getting the ball to the attackers, it will allow for easier scoring opportunities for the Minutewomen.

“Having a high shooting percentage and executing on any opportunities we have when we are able to get to the goal are going to be our biggest team goals going forward,” she said.

Friday’s game is set to begin at 4 p.m.

Anthony Chiusano can be reached at [email protected] and can be followed on Twitter @a_chiusano24.

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