The Massachusetts women’s soccer team came into Friday’s match against St. Bonaventure in 11th place in the Atlantic 10 – three spots out of the playoff picture. The Minutewomen left tied for seventh after securing a 2-0 win in their best offensive performance of the season.

UMass set the tone early on, pressing the Bonnies (6-9-1, 1-4-0 A-10) deep into their defensive end. The Minutewomen took four shots in the opening 14 minutes, including one from forward Natalie Perussault that ricocheted off of the left post. Perussault finished with three shots for the game.

After controlling play for the majority of the first half, sophomore forward Alyssa Fratarcangeli capitalized on a poor clear by St. Bonaventure and tucked a one-timer into the bottom left corner for her first goal of the season. From there, the Minutewomen continued to pressure the Bonnies, finishing the half with 14 shots and a 1-0 lead.

Goalkeeper Danielle Kriscenski made a triumphant return for UMass after missing over a month of action with an injury. The redshirt sophomore registered eight saves, including a diving stop in the 63rd minute. It was her third shutout of the year and her first start since Sept. 18 against Brown.
Co-captain Jackie Bruno put the game away in the 82nd minute as she drove in Breanna Robinson’s cross, putting the Minutewomen up 2-0. It was Bruno’s team-high fifth goal of the season. Robinson, a redshirt sophomore with only 177 minutes of playing time this year, secured her first point of the season on the assist.

UMass forward Megan Burke scored three goals in the first six matches of the year, but hasn’t scored since. While she didn’t break that streak on Friday, she did have a strong game at the point of attack of the Minutewomen’s offense. She started the second half with another shot that bounced off the crossbar and finished the match with three shots of her own.

St. Bonaventure made some strong adjustments during the halftime break and came out in the second half strong, evening out the pace of play. But Kriscenski and the UMass defense held strong.

Despite taking 12 shots in the second half, the Bonnies came up empty. It was the eighth time this year that St. Bonaventure was shut out.

Friday was just the second time all season that UMass scored two goals in regulation.

Arthur Hayden can be reached [email protected].