The Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team finished its game against Richmond strong, scoring five goals in the fourth quarter and securing a 15-9 win on Sunday afternoon.
Olivia Muscella immediately drew control to start off the fourth quarter. UMass (12-2, 6-0 Atlantic 10) got around Richmond’s (11-3, 5-1 A-10) strong defensive play as Brinley Anderson found the back of the net, scoring for the Minutewomen off an assist from Julia Smith.
After the Spiders’ Lindsay Frank scored later in the frame off an assist from Marina Miller’s, Hannah Heller drew control back for UMass and fled down the field. She quickly passed to defender Quinn Daly, who found Maddy Maloney for a responding goal. Maloney earned a hat trick, scoring her other two goals in the first and third quarters.
After quickly flipping around the Richmond defense, Kelly Marra slid to the ground before attempting to score. She didn’t register a goal right away but was awarded with a free position shot and buried that opportunity to earn a hat trick of her own.
Late in the fourth quarter, Spiders’ Jax Donohue defended Alex Finn behind the net well, but Finn was ultimately able to find Marra and look for a scoring opportunity. Finn found space and received the ball from Smith, quickly shooting and finding the back of the net. Smith assisted three goals, two of which were in the fourth quarter.
“I thought [the Minutewomen’s mentality and communication] was just really consistent and very thorough … the bench did a great job of just energizing, cheering, supporting and really infusing energy when we needed it,” head coach Angela McMahon-Serpone said.
As Richmond held UMass out of the fan line area, Kendra Harbinger got around the defense at the eight-meter arc, found the back of the net and scored one of her four points of the day. She ended the game with a hat trick and one assist.
Carroll had two notable back-to-back saves in the third quarter, the first being from a free position shot by the Spider’s Arden Tierney. Carroll stopped the rebound chance as well but was out of position for Richmond’s third attempt but UMass’ Sammy Helgeson came to the rescue, blocking the ball as it nearly rolled past the goal line.
“Richmond’s one of our biggest rivals,” Carroll said. “We were able to stay calm, composed [and] we stuck with everything that we can control. I think everyone played 100 percent today.”
In the first quarter, neither the Minutewomen nor Richmond could overpower the other, going into the second frame tied 2-2. UMass started breaking away shortly after, grabbing a 7-4 lead at halftime, and rode that momentum through the following half of play.
The Minutewomen travel to Philadelphia, Penn. to face La Salle on Thursday, April 14 at 1 p.m.
Corinne Arel can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @CorinneArel_09.
