The 2019 Massachusetts field hockey team has centered its style of play around having a tough defense. Despite changes against Northeastern, the Minutewomen continued their defensive game plan Sunday against New Hampshire at Gladchuk Field Hockey Complex.
With two minutes left in the fourth quarter, UNH (6-5) found themselves on the scoresheet for the second time of the day, concluding a 2-1 victory over UMass (4-7, 1-2 A-10). Finn Caron scored her ninth goal of the season, putting back a rebound right in front of the cage.
There was controversy with the officiating, including claims from UMass players of a missed call leading up to the winning goal. UMass goalkeeper, Marlise Van Tonder, was out of position as New Hampshire altered their attack from what the Minutewomen were prepared for.
“They got a free hit which shouldn’t have been a free hit,” van Tonder said. “They took it to a place which was different than what we expected. They had a free run into the circle and I committed to the side because it was a 50/50 ball and she managed to pop it over my left glove and they jumped to the rebound faster than our defense did.”
The Wildcats almost surrendered a goal at the end of regulation after a pass by Sophie de Jonge was deflected off of the New Hampshire goalkeeper, Jemma Woods. Woods could only parry the ball away from the cage, and freshman Jess Beech took a quick shot which was saved off the line by Wildcat defender, Bloem van den Brekel.
Despite playing more defensive than in its previous game against Northeastern, UMass took more opportunities on goal, outshooting UNH 19-10. The game was very smooth, consisting of a lot of back and forth build up in the middle of the field.
“We tried to play man-to-man and be aggressive on them,” forward Katherine Furry said. “With that press we had a different area where we wanted to win the ball, which was more, further back on the pitch.”
UMass, known for scoring late, showed resilience despite being down a goal early in the game. Never giving up has been a focus for UMass this season, getting stronger in the offensive 25 more and more as the game continues.
Furry was the only Minutewoman to get on the scoresheet, as she provided a goal in the second quarter after a drawn ball from forward Lucy Cooper left Furry alone in front of goal.
“I was hanging down in front of the net, stick down ready,” Furry said. “Lucy Cooper was dribbling it in and passed it across the net and I tipped it on my reverse and just hit it in over the goalkeeper’s pads.”
Van Tonder provided her part with four saves, three of which came in the fourth quarter. Van Tonder kept her focus during the game, making sure a lack of shots through the opening 45 minutes would not allow her to go cold going into the fourth.
“A big focus this week during training was, whenever you step over the line, this is all you focus on,” van Tonder said. “You have to stay present. I try to keep counting players and make sure to constantly keep communicating. If I’m able to do that I can stay focused and stay present.”
Scoring first has been a deciding factor in the majority of games for the Minutewomen this season. In all four of their wins, UMass has scored first but have conceded the first goal of the game in all seven of their losses.
When falling behind early, coach Barb Weinberg, makes adjustments to the strategy of her side. With a defensive heavy team, they need to go outside their norm to play more offensively in hopes of a comeback. However, their changes in play during the game are often beneficial, providing them with a game-tying goal.
“We had to change up our outletting a little bit based on UNH’s press,” Weinberg said. “The pockets were in different spaces today than they were on Friday so we planned on how we were going to work the ball around. They have a really talented center back who is good at distributing, so we had to base our press on what she was doing and be a little more patient.”
The Minutewomen will try to regain their momentum Friday Oct. 11, when they travel to North Carolina to face Davidson.
Kevin Schuster can be reached at [email protected].
