Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” rang from the speakers countless times at Garber Field on Saturday, as senior attacker Tessa Shields delivered a notable performance contributing to the Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team’s 19-5 win against Long Island University. The Ipswich native tallied a career-high six goals.  

With an open lane to the goal, Shields caught a pass from sophomore Katie Peterson on the left floating hash mark. The senior quickly cradled the ball before sending it to the bottom right corner of the net, scoring her third goal of the day and first career hat trick in just over 14 minutes. Cheers erupted from the UMass (1-2) bench and crowd as Shields threw her stick to the ground for the third time and celebrated with her teammates.  

Shields made an impact for the Minutewomen early on, netting her first goal of the game seven minutes into the start. Catching the feed from Peterson, Shields ran up the left side of the eight-meter arc towards the goal while cradling with her left hand, before quickly switching back to her right and shooting the ball past Sharks (0-3) goaltender Mylie Norton into the bottom right corner of the net.  

Just 45 seconds later, the attacker found the back of Long Island’s net again on a free position shot after the Sharks got called for a shooting space violation. When the whistle blew, Shields burst toward the goal, battling through two defenders’ sticks before sending her shot directly between the top post and Norton’s helmet for the score.  

“Tessa has a very high IQ, so she does so well for us in practice, and I think for her finally putting it all together on the field and being that voice down there,” head coach Jana Drummond said. “We have such strong leadership [on the field], so I think seeing her put it all together and have a day [Saturday], it was awesome and exactly what we needed for her going forward.”   

After Kassidy Morris’ free position shot went wide, the Sharks were the closest to the ball and gained possession when it bounced out of bounds. On the transition, Long Island carried the ball up the field before a back check sent the ball loose. Senior Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw recovered the ground ball and quickly passed to Shields, who had an open run at Norton with the rest of the players up field for the transition. From the restraining line, the senior ran the ball up to the crease before finding space to send the ball past Norton. 

Sophomore Ava Connaughton carried the ball up along the outside of the arc from behind the goal line, looking for an open teammate. Leading with her stick, Shields cut across the arc from the left side to catch the short pass from Connaughton. The attacker placed the ball tight to the left post past Norton. 

Shields’ sixth and final goal of the contest came with just under five minutes left on the clock. Junior Norah Prizzi held the ball behind the goal and Shields popped out toward the center of the arc to lose the defender. She caught Prizzi’s feed and redirected the ball over Sharks goalie Mary Ford’s right shoulder and into the back of the net.

Last season, Shields finished with 28 points on 16 goals and 12 helpers. The attacker also recorded a career-best of seven caused turnovers and 17 ground balls. So far this season, the senior has registered seven goals and one assist across the first three games.

Devin Lippman can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @devinlippman.