Just 56 seconds into the Massachusetts women’s lacrosse game against George Mason, the Minutewomen took a big step toward reaching a historic milestone for coach Angela McMahon.
A wide-open Sarah Crowley received a pass in front of the cage to beat Patriots goalkeeper Taylor Carpentier just below the crossbar to give UMass a 1-0 lead.
That’s all the momentum the Minutewomen needed as they cruised to a 17-7 win Sunday at McGuirk Stadium, marking the 100th career victory for McMahon in just her eighth season as a head coach.
“It’s definitely well-deserved, she’s a great coach and we love winning for her,” defender Anne Farnham said, who scored her first career goal in the win.
McMahon’s career record improved to 100-39 (.719 winning percentage), with some of those wins coming at stops at Bentley and UConn prior to arriving at UMass for the 2011 season. In five seasons with the Minutewomen, McMahon is already second in program history with 81 wins and has the highest win-percentage of any coach at .827 with a record of 81-11.
McMahon’s first collegiate win came back on April 22, 2006, when Bentley defeated Assumption 16-10.
She went 7-8 in her first year in Waltham and had a combined record of 12-21 in her two seasons with the Huskies.
“I’ve loved every second of this,” McMahon said of her coaching milestone. “Every opportunity, every experience, everywhere I’ve coached has been an amazing.”
McMahon is already the second winningest coach at UMass and trails only Hall of Famer Pam Hixon in wins. Hixon notched 91 victories in nine seasons with the team from 1979 to 1987.
Despite Sunday’s win being a personal accomplishment for McMahon, she immediately credited her players and fellow coaches as the driving force behind her 100 wins.
“Numbers are great and coaches can be great but you are only as good as the players that you are coaching and the staff that you are working with. That’s what I credit pretty much everything to,” McMahon said. “Any of our success that we’ve had has come from having great players and great coaches that are doing the work.”
Prior to the start of the season, McMahon was 54-7 in her first three years with UMass. Maryland’s Cindy Timchal is the only other coach in history with a better win percentage (.889) in their first three years at one school.
Although her coaching accomplishments and accolades speak for themselves, it’s McMahon’s actions off the field that make her so likable to her players. Many players consider her a mother-like figure with the way she cares about her players as individual people, rather than just another player on the roster.
Captain Katie Ott (one goal, one assist) transferred from Boston University after redshirting her freshmen year with the Terriers. She knew McMahon from high school and said that she was one of the biggest reasons for her to come to UMass.
“She takes a lot of interest in us as individuals, and not just as an athlete or lacrosse player. Everyone can unanimously say that that we respect her on and off the field in every aspect,” Ott said.
Although win No. 100 was just another conference win for her team, she laughed and rolled her eyes with the thought of No. 200 coming sooner rather than later for the Minutewomen.
“I’m just trying to take this one step at a time,” McMahon said with a smile.
Andrew Cyr can be reached at [email protected], and followed on Twitter @Andrew_Cyr.[liveblog]
