Mytre van Herwijnen and Steph Gottwals were all the Massachusetts field hockey team needed versus La Salle on Friday, picking up a 3-0 victory. Gottwals contributed two of the three Minutewomen (6-3, 2-0 Atlantic 10) goals and van Herwijnen blanked the Explorers (5-4, 1-1 A-10) in net, saving 16 shots en route to the win.
Gottwals two goals were her second and third of the season, with all three of them coming in her last three games. Her three goals are tied with Mali Herberhold for the team lead.
Herberhold assisted Gottwals first goal of the contest, firing in a shot on a corner that ricocheted off the angled stick of Gottwals.
“We trained a lot at practice this week…tipping, that kind of stuff. I got some individuals in this week too, so (I) felt a lot more confident going into this week than I had in the past.” Gottwals said.
Van Herwijnen was the star of the show in net for the Minutewomen. She managed to complete the shoutout despite 10 corners from La Salle and 16 shots. Many of the sophomore’s saves involved some acrobatics.
“I just thought this weekend was important,” van Herwijnen said. “I trained a lot with (Coach Weinberg) on the intensity and just like being ready for every shot. I’m just very thankful for having a team and a coach that just prepares me as much as they can for games like this where I need to be ready.”
Van Herwijnen’s play was similar to that of the Northwestern game earlier this year where she faced 17 shots and had nine saves. That was a game that UMass dropped.
“We know the ability that [van Herwijnen] has, and I think for her, this game was really important for her to get a lot of touches on the ball to be really confident going into (The Rutgers game).” head coach Barb Weinberg said.
Graduate student Emily Crawford tacked on the third goal of the game for the Minutewomen in the fourth quarter, firing the ball into the top right corner of the net. The goal was her first of the year and sixth of her career.
“I think the way that our attack executed today, that’s the kind of breakout game we needed,” Weinberg said.
The first quarter was dominant for UMass, out shooting La Salle six to two while having four of its five total corners. Both of Gottwals goals came in the period as well.
La Salle steadily fought back out shooting the Minutewomen in the second and third quarters without finding the net.
“I think what we want to take from today is definitely the intensity that we played with, the trust in the team, the trust in our defensive unit” van Herwijnen added about riding the momentum into the next game.
UMass turns its attention to the No.7 Scarlet Knights of Rutgers Sunday, September 24th at Gladchuk Field with faceoff slated for 1 p.m.
Owen Shelffo can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @owen_shelffo.
