For the first time at the Division I level, the Massachusetts field hockey team was topped by the UMass Lowell River Hawks.
Sunday’s matchup was the 10th all-time meeting between the two teams, with UMass (5-3,1-0 Atlantic 10) coming into the game with a perfect 9-0 record in past matchups.
The third quarter was the difference in a highly competitive in-state rivalry game. At 30:18 Lowell’s (5-2) Meike Visher’s shot found its way past Minutewomen goalkeeper Myrte Van Herwijnen and into the far corner of the net. This River Hawk goal proved to be the difference on Sunday afternoon.
“UMass Lowell is a team that’s been growing and growing over the past several years and the games have gotten closer and closer as the Kennedy Cup has gone on. We knew from scouting video they were a really strong team this year,” head coach Barb Weinberg said. “We knew the kind of energy they were going to come out with, and we didn’t match it for enough of the game today. We really had a lull in the third period, and I thought UMass Lowell was able to pick it up and convert early in the third quarter.”
After defeating St. Louis on Friday 3-2, the Minutewomen were looking to carry that momentum into Sunday and add another tally to the win column. UMass fell short however, after struggling on the defensive end and having a high turnover rate.
“I think two things killed us today: it was our double turnovers out of the backfield … and then the second thing was our individual defense, just really diving in and crashing when we could have stayed under the play and kept our numbers,” Weinberg said.
Lowell demonstrated quick gameplay and used this to its advantage, scoring at the 10:17 mark of the first quarter. The Minutewomen followed quickly behind however, scoring a goal at 11:51. Hannah De Gast received the ball from Emilie Keij at post, tipping it in for her second goal of the season. These two goals were scored in a window of just over a minute and a half, leaving both teams at an equal point, yearning to get ahead.
After finding themselves tied early in the first quarter, Lowell found the drive to top the Minutewomen, who previously held a record of 2-0 on the road. Visher’s goal was the one tally in the second half of Sunday’s game and gave the River Hawks their deciding goal.
The Minutewomen found themselves in a position to score in the last three minutes of the game when Keij let off a shot after four offensive penalty corners were caused by Jess Beech. UMass was not able to let its defensive drive turn into offensive output, ultimately losing its first Kennedy Cup.
The Minutewomen will look to capture a win at home Friday, Sep. 22 when they face La Salle at 3 p.m..
Lucy Postera can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @LucyPostera.
