It was a gritty win for the No.14 Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team on the road as it took care of VCU on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, winning 15-7.
UMass (13-1, 7-0 Atlantic 10) faced a team in VCU (6-9, 2-5 A-10) that didn’t back down. Led by Alex Finn, the Minutewomen converted more of their opportunities in the second half, and their increase in defensive tenacity was the difference maker.
“We knew when we went into this game knowing VCU is a very strong team,” head coach Jana Drummond said. “They’re not someone that gives up so even if we have a good quarter, we know that they’re going to be chipping away and come at us hard.”
Two Minutewomen, Finn and Charlotte Wilmoth, ended up with hat tricks or better and combined for eight of UMass’ 15 goals.
Finn hit her stride as the first quarter waned, scoring three goals in under three minutes, giving UMass the early 6-1 lead.
However, in the second quarter, VCU clawed its way back into the contest. Scoring four unanswered goals, it took control of ground balls, caused turnovers wherever possible, and pivotally increased its physicality around the ball. UMass was forced to call timeout as it found its five goal lead cut to two.
“It was all about us regrounding, we were getting back to just focusing on the little details of just playing smart and aggressive and going back to how we identify ourselves,” Drummond said.
Shortly after the timeout, backup goalie Catrina Tobin subbed in for Gina Carroll who started the game for the Minutewomen. Carroll finished the game saving three of nine shots in 24 minutes.
UMass continued Drummond’s message from the timeout and goalie change by locking down any shots around the net. In the second half specifically, the Minutewomen gave up one goal. Tobin finished the game saving two of three shots on net in 35 minutes. A tremendous improvement from the first half on defense led to more success offensively as UMass took control of the game once again, outshooting the Rams 11-2 in the second half..
“Being able to move the ball quickly, finding the open looks, and being very unselfish, is what makes us such a strong offensive unit,” Drummond said. “That is what’s going to be very important as we head forward in keeping that mentality at each play, because any strong team who plays so unselfishly is going to be really excited for their team.”
Minutewoman attacker Fiona McGowan had a monster game, finishing with seven points, which came by way of one goal and six assists. McGowan made her presence known as a distributor and a leader on the field.
“[McGowan] is a really great leader,” Drummond said. “The team really listens to what she has to say, and we love when she speaks up, showing and dominating her leadership skills.”
With the team notching their 12th straight win, the Minutewomen look to extend their win streak to 13 on the road once again against Saint Joseph’s University next Saturday, April 22 at noon.
Mehrob Fatemi can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MehrobFatemi.
