The Massachusetts women’s soccer team breezed by Atlantic 10 opponent Davidson on Sunday afternoon with a 5-0 win against the Wildcats (3-7-1, 0-3-1 A-10).
All five goals scored were firsts of the season for each of the players that found the back of the net. Hannah Peric and Fiona Kane, two starting defenders, scored for the Minutewomen (6-3-2, 3-1-0 A-10), and the remainder of the goals came from substitutions Lauren Robles, Emma Pedolzky and Emily McCormack.
“We’ve talked a lot from the very beginning of preseason about how deep we are,” head coach Jason Dowiak said. “It was awesome to get five goals from five different players.”
Peric started off the scoring on Sunday after a free kick was taken by midfielder Bella Recinos. Recinos placed the ball high in the air towards the middle of the box, the perfect height for Peric to head the ball right at Davidson’s keeper Emily Smith. Smith looked as if she would save it, but the ball slipped through her hands into the net for a goal.
Another blunder by Smith found its way into goal by way of a shot from Pedolzky. Smith couldn’t get her hands on the ball and the Minutewomen went up 2-0 in the 50th minute of the second half.
Although the first two goals came from mistakes by Smith, she was challenged continuously throughout the match. UMass finished with 26 shots and 16 of them were on goal. Smith finished with 11 saves.
“I think we put so much pressure on them, both in how we pressed them when we didn’t have the ball and how dangerous we were in creating chances,” Dowiak said. “That’s nerve wracking for goalkeepers and defenders.”
UMass was relentless on offense, never allowing the score to affect its play. The Minutewomen connected passes from all areas of the pitch, using the defense and goalie Bella Mendoza as a starting point for the offense.
Recinos had two assists in the game, kickstarting the first goal of the day to Peric. Her second assist came from the second goal with Pedolzky making a short pass to Recinos for a better angle at the ball. Recinos passed it back with the placement that Pedolzky was looking for, shooting it for a goal.
“There was so much clarity in her decision making today to be dangerous that it just allowed her to keep creating opportunity after opportunity,” Dowiak said.
Davidson had little play in the Minutewomen’s end of the field with only 10 total shots with six of them on goal. Part of this lack of offense was due to UMass’ back line. The defense quickly squashed any play from the Wildcats and redirected it into offense.
Mendoza relaxed in net most of the game, until Davidson had a corner kick in the 62nd minute. The kick dropped right into the middle of the action where Wildcat Ella Barnes had an open shot above Mendoza’s head. Mendoza made a jumping save to punch the ball up and out of play.
UMass found its third goal with a penalty kick when Robles went down inside the box. Kane, a center back, wasted no time after the referee whistled and kicked the ball in the center of the goal. This was Kane’s first career goal for the Minutewomen.
With one assist and one goal, Robles proved an asset for the Minutewomen on Sunday. Connecting with McCormack for an assist in the 68th minute, Robles was a threat coming off the bench. Robles scored a goal of her own with an assist from Pedolzky in the 75th minute.
UMass will head to Rooney Field where it will play the Duquesne Dukes. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 28 and will be streamed on ESPN+.
Rachel Toth can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @RachelToth46.
