After a crushing loss to Boston College earlier in the week, the Massachusetts field hockey team rebounded against La Salle in dominant fashion with a score of 4-1. The Minutewomen (7-3, 3-1 Atlantic 10) put up 29 shots and 15 shots on goal while the Explorers (0-9 NCAA, 0-5 A-10) only shot it three times with two of them being shots on goal.

Not only were the shots one-sided, but the penalty corners too. UMass had ten penalty corners while La Salle had just one. Those penalty corners came as a result of the immense pressure the Minutewomen put on the Explorers throughout the majority of the contest.

La Salle drew first blood in the game with its only goal coming in the first period at the hands of sophomore forward/midfielder Samie Hackman on an assist by sophomore forward Natalie Biliunas. UMass would respond later in the second period with a goal of its own by senior midfielder Georgie McTear, who scored her fifth of the season and first of the game. She was assisted by sophomore Steph Gottwals, her first point of the season, and graduate student midfielder Amelie Green which was her third on the year.

The Minutewomen would not look back after that and continued to dominate the game while getting a second goal from McTear, her sixth on the season, which came unassisted. They also got goals from junior forward Katherine Furry, her first of the season which also came unassisted, and sophomore forward Emily Crawford, her first of the season, which was assisted by McTear, her third assist on the year.

A recurring theme in this game was UMass players getting their first points of the season, while McTear put on a show on Senior Day with two goals and one assist.

UMass faces a big challenge next weekend when they take on No. 19 Saint Joseph’s (3-2 NCAA, 2-1 A-10) in a battle for first place in the North division of the Atlantic 10 and to secure a spot as the two seed in the A10 tournament.

“The theme of the season has been ‘elevate’ and we just need to keep elevating every week and continue to build off of that,” Minutewomen head coach Barb Weinberg said when asked about how the Minutewomen can keep things rolling into next week’s big game against No. 19 Saint Joseph’s. “St. Joe’s is a tough opponent, but if we continue to elevate, we will be ready for them next week.”

Eli Weisberger can be reached at [email protected]