The Massachusetts field hockey team couldn’t avenge last year’s Atlantic 10 tournament finals loss against Richmond, as the Spiders returned to Amherst with similar results, dropping the Minutewomen 2-1 in double-overtime.
Both teams entered the game having had their fair share of offensive struggles this season, and that continued Sunday.
After 97 minutes of deadlock, the Spiders’ Kelly Quinn produced the walk-off goal with a quick shot past UMass goalkeeper Sam Carlino off a pass from Avery Safford.
“It’s a tough loss, we didn’t come out in the second half, we’ve been struggling with that a bit,” Carlino said.
UMass’ lone goal came 20 minutes into the game when Hannah Farrell assisted Shauna Ranking-Byrne for her second goal of the season. The tally gave the Minutewomen a temporary 1-0 heading into the second half.
UMass held this lead until the midway point of the second half when Richmond’s Taylor Deitrick rebounded the ball past Carlino for the tying score.
The goal followed a scramble in front of the net where Deitrick was fortunate to get the ball out and into the net while Carlino was momentarily out of position.
The Minutewomen only managed a total of five shots on goal all game, marking their lowest output since they finished with two in their 4-0 shutout loss to No. 4 Syracuse on Sept. 6.
While Richmond’s defense was stingy throughout Sunday’s game, UMass had plenty of empty scoring opportunities in the loss. The Minutewomen recorded six total penalty corners, including one in each overtime and four in regulation.
“It’s just disappointing,” UMass coach Carla Tagliente said. “We did not finish the game out and we did not play particularly well from start to finish.”
The Minutewomen were also gifted with plenty of offensive miscues by the Spiders, who seemed to miss open shots one after the other.
The amount of emotion could be seen in the fairly physical conference game. UMass was given three green cards and a yellow card, and Melanie Kreusch hit the turf hard late in the second overtime with what appeared to be a wrist injury. Tagliente said the injury wasn’t serious.
According to Tagliente, the Minutewomen’s poor offense may have been a result of extra emotion stemming from last year’s letdown in the A-10 tournament.
“I think we were focused more on them and playing hard more than playing smart,” Tagliente said.
The inconsistency on offense has been a common reoccurrence for the Minutewomen throughout the season. While UMass’ offense has shown improvement, posting 13 goals in its previous three home games, Sunday’s game saw early-season issues resurface.
On the opposite end of the field, the Minutewomen’s defense is also looking to improve, especially close to the goal.
“Defensively we’ve been consistent, but we’re not getting that extra push inside the circle,” Carlino said.
As the season wears on, the relatively young UMass team still seeks greater consistency and awareness, two things that hurt them against Richmond Sunday. Tagliente was very blunt following the loss saying, “We just played dumb.”
Sunday’s win ended a four-game losing streak for Richmond and improves them to 2-0 in conference play. The Minutewomen dropped to 1-1 in conference play, following their victory over Saint Joseph’s Friday.
UMass will next take a short break from its A-10 schedule when it hosts No. 6 Stanford next Sunday, Sep. 27.
Philip Sanzo can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at Philip_Sanzo.
