The Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team secured its third win of the season, 14-6, in a winter wonderland Saturday afternoon. Charlotte Wilmoth led UMass (3-1) to victory with five goals against Dartmouth (1-1).
“We were smart with taking care of the ball. We talked a lot about making shorter passes and just being supportive of one another versus trying to force things too far up the field,” UMass coach Jana Drummond said. “You see a lot of them wear gloves and they usually don’t typically wear gloves.”
Wilmoth opened the game with back-to-back goals within the first three minutes, as snow was starting to fall. Her first goal was assisted by Alex Finn and her second goal was assisted by Fiona McGowan, who each had four goals of their own.
“She was great all over the field,” Drummond said about Wilmoth. “She was reading the plays, listening to the coaches and executing what we asked her to.”
With a free position for Dartmouth, the Big Green were able to make the score 2-1 with a shot from Lucy Murray. Three minutes later, Dartmouth’s Jev Ward received her first yellow card. UMass took advantage of this man-up opportunity and Alex Finn scored her first goal which was assisted by Wilmoth. The Minutewomen and Big Green continued to battle through the first quarter, ending with four turnovers each.
Four minutes into the second quarter, the Big Green were able to respond with two goals from Rosie McCarthy and Catherine Erb to tie the game with eight minutes left to play in the quarter. It was a back and forth battle between the two teams until two minutes remained before half time, when the score was 4-4.
Kassidy Morris scored her first goal of the game giving UMass a one point lead. Fiona McGowan responded after Morris squeezed in two goals with 45 seconds remaining on the clock before half. The Minutewomen went into halftime with a three goal lead, 7-4.
“I thought we had some ups and downs. There were some really great spark moments where we played as a unit and did strong on both ends,” Drummond said. “We had some dips, so it was just really trying to make sure as we go forward fulfilling the full four quarters.”
The Minutewomen persevered through the second half where the defense and goalie, Catrina Tobin, let up only two goals.
The third quarter was the slowest quarter for the Minutewomen; both UMass and Dartmouth scored two goals apiece. Dartmouth’s goalie, Gisele Todd, fouled Wilmoth causing her to take a free position shot on an open net, scoring her third goal of the game. The quarter ended with UMass in the lead, 9-6.
UMass dominated the fourth quarter where they led Dartmouth in goals 5-0. The quarter started with two turnovers for the Big Green and one turnover for the Minutewomen before Lauren Tolve scored the first goal of the quarter making the score 10-6. Seven minutes went by where the two teams were fighting for that next chance to score.
UMass ultimately came out on top and scored four goals within the last four remaining minutes of the game. McGowan scored her fourth goal, Wilmoth had consecutive goals (her fourth and fifth), and Amy Moreau’s goal ended the snowy game.
Drummond was proud of her team. “They went out there and executed what we needed to do.”
The Minutewomen return to the road on Wednesday facing Holy Cross with a 5:30 p.m. start time.
Caroline Brussard can be reached at [email protected].
