When looking for efficiency among the members of the Massachusetts field hockey team, there is one name that easily stands out: Izzie Delario.
The junior from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware added two goals and an assist to her impressive career stat line in Friday afternoon’s 5-0 win over La Salle at Gladchuk Field.
The game was Delario’s 49th of her career at UMass (8-8, 4-3 Atlantic 10) and her contributions Friday raised her to 62 career points.
After a couple games without Delario, Minutewomen coach Carla Tagliente said she is grateful to have the forward back in the lineup.
“She brings a great attacking ability and skill as well as heart. She is the heart and core of this team and we missed that when she was out for a few weeks,” Tagliente said.
In Friday’s highly-productive offensive matchup, Delario was the central figure in generating almost all of the goals. Besides scoring and dishing out assists, Delario is one of the Minutewomen’s top inserters on penalty corners.
“The obvious is her hockey play and ability on the ball to create attack. I don’t know the stats, but she generates a significant amount of penalty corners,” Tagliente said. “She doesn’t score a lot of goals but her production is huge and she is a very dangerous player.”
Scoring multiple goals is unusual for Delario, but on a day like Friday, where she had numerous shot opportunities, finding a balance between passing the ball and taking a shot was not much of a problem for the junior midfielder.
“Getting in the circle, you have three things you’re thinking about. Do I have a pass? Goal shot? Or can I draw the corner? When I saw the space and felt the girl on my back, I had the space and got the shot off,” Delario said.
In a much-needed win, Delario was all over the field in the Minutewomen’s shutout victory over the Explorers. At one moment she would be in the opponent’s circle taking a shot, then seconds later she would be in the UMass circle on defense preventing a shot on goal.
One would expect that Delario would be exhausted by the end of the first half because of how much field she covers, however for her that was not the case.
“Really my head is more in the game. I’m not really paying attention to when I’m tired,” Delario said. “I think the most is when there’s a stop or a card and you’re like, ‘Whew, I can catch my breath now,’ but you’re so into the game.”
Tagliente recognizes that Delario can be played anywhere, but against La Salle (7-8, 3-4 A-10) she had a much stronger offensive presence.
Tagliente made it clear that her strategy for playing Delario varies by opponent. Some days she will play more in the midfield and other days she will play up more. It depends on the type of defense that the other team presents as well.
“Right now you’re seeing her more useful upfront, but she’s kind of utility in that we bounce her around between attack and midfield,” Tagliente said.
Looking forward Tagliente and Delario have similar mindsets in believing that a positive attitude will fuel their postseason aspirations. Tagliente lauded Delario for putting all of her heart into her play and Delario recognized the importance of positive thinking and 100 percent effort.
“Our success on the field is a direct correlation to our positivity and move forward attitude from our play a couple weeks ago,” Delario said.
UMass plays Connecticut on Sunday in Storrs in its second to last game of the regular season.
Matthew Zackman can be reached at [email protected]
