For the second consecutive game junior attacker Hannah Burnett had an offensive explosion for the Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team.
Burnett led UMass to a 13-4 victory over New Hampshire Friday afternoon in Durham. The Huntington, New York native registered five goals to pace the Minutewomen against UNH, and in the process, took over the team lead in goals (12) after her dominant performance.
“Burnett had another great game,” UMass coach Angela McMahon said. “[She’s] a steady presence around the net and capitalized on her chances today. Her play’s been really critical lately.”
Despite the cold temperatures and falling snow that hit southeastern New Hampshire, the Minutewomen (3-3) weren’t fazed and even seemed to thrive under the harsh conditions.
“It was a perfect New England game playing in a snow covered field,” McMahon said. “We practice in it and we were mentally prepared for it.”
In the opening 30 minutes, UMass furthered its streak of tenacious starts outscoring the Wildcats 8-2 while also attempting 12 shots on UNH goalkeeper Kate Clancy. Burnett, Hannah Murphy and freshman Kaitlyn Cerasi tallied two goals in the first half along with individual markers from senior Callie Santos and junior Holly Turner.
The impressive first half got the ball rolling for the Minutewomen and it was momentum they would not relinquish.
“Definitely,” McMahon said when asked if the first half catapulted them to victory. “The past couple games we’ve had good starts, but we were trying to keep that going into the second half and today we did.”
Goals continued to pour in for UMass in the final frame with Burnett, Murphy and sophomore Kiley Anderson potting goals for the Minutewomen, who were one goal shy of tying their season-high 14 goals scored against Jacksonville Feb. 19.
Draw controls were an aspect McMahon was anticipating as being important in this matchup against the Wildcats (0-6) and it indeed proved to be crucial. UMass narrowly edged out UNH winning 10-of-19 draws and Murphy played a big role in that winning all 10 for the Minutewomen.
The defensive side of the ball was another strong point for UMass as the Wildcats only mustered 15 shots on freshman goalkeeper Lauren Hiller, who finished the afternoon with 11 saves.
Krissy Schafer (2), Devon Croke, and Carly Wooters were the goal scorers for the Wildcats.
“Hiller stepped up making some great saves for us and Murphy was great in draw controls, so overall it was a good team effort,” McMahon said.
The victory marks the Minutewomen’s first win streak of the season at two, and with the weather starting to heat up, UMass will look to follow suit in the win category.
UMass will have an extended break before its next matchup against Harvard March 22 in Cambridge.
Ryan Ames can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @_RyanAmes.
