In its second Atlantic-10 match-up of the season, the Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team came away victorious against the Saint Joseph’s. UMass (3-4, 2-0 A-10) beat the Hawks (3-4, 1-1 A-10) 16-11 for its first win on home turf of the season. While UMass had an outstanding offensive performance, the defensive pressure made it impossible for St. Joseph’s to come out on top.
Between the pipes for the Minutewomen was redshirt sophomore Catrina Tobin. Tobin faced 24 shots and finished the game with eight saves out of 19 shots on goal. Out of the seven free-position opportunities SJU had, only two shots made it past Tobin. In the first quarter, Tobin faced back-to-back free-position shots, saving both, and Layton Nass got possession of the ball for the Minutewomen.
“[Tobin] is just such a loyal teammate and she will do anything for her other teammates,” head coach Jana Drummond said. “She just talks to them so much on the defensive end, on the offensive end, so she’s really good at communicating and just leading it down there.”
The UMass defense killed three penalties throughout the 60 minutes. Caroline Whelan was issued a yellow card in the second quarter, but Lauren Tolve made an interception which gave UMass possession, allowing time to run out on the penalty. Whelan also received a green card within the first five minutes of play, but Tobin made a big save and cleared the ball, letting the rest of the penalty run out.
Tessa Shields received a yellow card in the third quarter, but SJU’s Emma O’Neill turned it over and Audra Tosone picked up the ground ball and carried it down the field. Charlotte Wilmoth got the ball from her and found the back of the net, putting the Minutewomen back in the lead.
Tosone proved once again she is a dominant force on the field, finishing the game with two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Tosone got her stick on a SJU free position shot, forcing the shot clock to run out, allowing UMass to take possession. She also forced a turnover, and Lindsay Ayres picked up the loose ball, running it down to the offensive zone.
“We played smart and were patient with it. We worked together and listened to each other versus being impulsive and just being smart with what was happening out there,” Drummond said.
Coming into Saturday’s game, Alexa Capozzoli was one of St. Joseph’s top scorers. However, the Massachusetts defense kept Capozzoli off the score sheet completely.
The Massachusetts defense started strong and stayed that way throughout the game, holding St. Joseph’s to a two-goal deficit at the end of the first quarter. Wilmoth forced a turnover on the transition after the shot clock ran out for the Minutewomen. Wilmoth picked up the ground ball and Skylar Simmonds put it in the net. The only two Hawks goals were scored on fast breaks where the defense did not have time to set up. The Hawks had four turnovers in the first quarter.
“They just played as a unit,” Drummond said. “They were working on a string, they were sliding for each other and just really buying into what was happening so they could just be successful down there and then taking care of it when they had the ball.”
The Minutewomen next play La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, March 20 at 2 p.m.
Devin Lippman can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @devinlippman.
