The Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team pummeled St. Bonaventure 27-2 in an achievement-littered game Friday afternoon at Garber Field.
This was the 11th-straight win for the Minutewomen (12-2, 7-0 Atlantic 10), and second against the Bonnies (2-10, 0-8 A-10) this year. UMass used 14 separate goal scorers to achieve its program record 27 goals, a quality of the team that head coach Angela McMahon has raved about all season long.
“Team first, that’s our mentality. The more we can push that and the more we have success in that, the harder it is to mark us,” she said. “We have the full confidence of everyone on our team, inclusive of our defenders to be able to score.”
High-production offense paired with quick, suffocating defense is the name of the game for the Minutewomen. In its seven conference games, UMass has outscored its opponents 145-54—an average of 13 goals per game.
Their dominance across the box score starts with Caitlyn Petro, the leading draw controller in the nation. Her career-high 24 draws against the Bonnies also ties the NCAA’s 2021 Record Book for most draw controls in a game. McMahon credited that overwhelming presence along with the pressure and speed of her defense as to why the Minutewomen can maintain so much control and shut down opposing offenses. It was especially visible Friday when St. Bonaventure attempted just one shot in the first half.
Kylee Bowen had her best showing yet, with a career-high four goals on five shot attempts, all on target. Her third goal of the day pushed UMass to its program record with over eight minutes to play.
🧢🧢🧢 Kylee Bowen scores her first career hat-trick and the Minutewomen have a new program-record for most goals scored in a single game with 2️⃣6️⃣❗️#Flagship 🚩 pic.twitter.com/PaTDQgcn2v
— UMass Women's Lacrosse (@UMassLacrosse) April 23, 2021
Seniors Kelly Marra and Olivia Muscella each had a hat trick, with Marra scoring all three of her goals in the first 17 minutes of the game. Alex Finn led the Minutewomen in points with six and assists with four, both career highs.
Stephanie Croke used a pair of goals to showcase her ability to create shots in isolation as well as make the right cuts to find easy shots on net. First, Croke used a fake pass to send No. 32 of the Bonnies sprinting in the wrong direction. Then she slipped past a pair of defenders and eventually snuck a shot inside on Savannah Clarke.
Stephanie Croke just toying with them!#Flagship 🚩 pic.twitter.com/xcDgvmX5Pu
— UMass Women's Lacrosse (@UMassLacrosse) April 23, 2021
Her second goal gave UMass a 14-1 lead, after reversing direction and cutting across the crease which allowed Alex Finn to deliver a perfect dime out of the X.
McMahon emphasized the importance of using these blowout victories to continue building a habit of paying close attention to detail, regardless of the scoreboard.
“Are we limiting turnovers? Are we moving off ball? All of those little details that go into making us successful. We’ve been really homing in on the discipline of those details all week long, and that’s where the focus was,” McMahon said.
The incessant pressure paved the way for a stunning 46 shot attempts for the Minutewomen, 39 of them on goal. St. Bonaventure took just nine attempts, with only five on goal. They forced eight less turnovers, and only won two out of 30 total draw controls.
Standing between UMass and a perfect conference record during the regular season is a Saint Joseph’s rematch on Sunday, April 25. The Minutewomen took down the Hawks 21-12 at Garber Field in early April but will now head to Philadelphia to close out the year.
Dylan Corey can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @theDylanCorey.
