The Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team used a 10-1 run to cap off its short weekend road trip with a 15-9 victory against George Washington Sunday afternoon in the nation’s capital. The win extends UMass’ winning streak to six games.
It was an uncharacteristically slow start for the Minutewomen (11-1, 4-0 Atlantic 10). So often this season, they have stymied opponents by blistering from the opening whistle, getting out to a substantial lead that the other teams struggle to overcome. Sunday, it was UMass who had to pick itself out of an early hole.
After Nicole Troost scored the first goal of the game three minutes, 35 seconds in, UMass surrendered three straight goals, putting the Minutewomen down 3-1. Michaela Lynch led the Colonials (2-10, 0-4 A-10) finishing the game with four goals on six shots.
From there, UMass came with a fury of offense, scoring six goals in a row, and 10 out of the next 11 to give it a 11-4 lead with 24:11 remaining in the game. Troost scored four of her five goals in the first half, putting her at 42 goals on the season.
“We stayed composed and knew that if we stuck to our game plan and executed our sets we would eventually get looks, which we did. We did a good job responding,” Minutewomen coach Angela McMahon said.
Hannah Murphy was dominant in the draw control circle, leading UMass with 12 of its 18 total. Overall, the Minutewomen were 18-of-26 on draw controls.
McMahon credited Murphy’s efforts in the circle as a big reason UMass clawed back into the game, as it gave it extra possessions and opportunities on the offensive end.
“(Murphy) did a fantastic job today directing (the ball) in an area where she would be able to come up with it. Really proud of her effort, they threw a lot of different people at her but she was able to stay consistent,” McMahon said.
After the Colonials scored a goal with 19 seconds left in the first half to cut the deficit to three, Erika Eipp, who finished with two goals and five assist, scored with one second left in the half on a free position shot sending the Minutewomen to halftime with a 9-4 lead.
UMass picked up where it left off in the second half, scoring the first three goals after the intermission. The Minutewomen were aggressive offensively, outshooting George Washington 36-20.
It was once again a balanced scoring attack for UMass, as five different girls found the back of the net, with goals coming from Troost (five), Eipp (three), Eileen McDonald (three), Hannah Burnett (three) and Holly Turner (one).
“We had a lot of different scorers on the day, a lot of people stepping up for us which is what we want to do- create a balanced scoring attack with multiple threats,” McMahon said.
The Colonials made a small run at the end of the game, scoring three straight goals, bringing the score to 13-8 with 7:58 remaining. That was as close as the George Washington would get.
“We did what we needed to do to win the game. We are still trying to look for areas of improvement and playing that full 60-minute game,” McMahon said.
Thomas Johnston can be reached at [email protected].
