Vol. 8: Winners of 10 Straight, UMass Quietly Climbing Top 25
UMass first year head coach Jana Drummond looks to continue the program's legacy of success. The Minutewomen are atop the A-10 and rank in the top 10 in scoring offense and defense.
Graduate midfielder Amy Moreau makes a move against Siena in the first of UMass’ 10 straight wins. Moreau is one of five Minutewomen with 20 or more goals this season. Photo courtesy: UMass Athletics.
UMass expects success every season. Winners of the last 12 A-10 regular season titles, the Minutewomen have gone 93-1 in conference play since the start of the 2011 season. They’ve made 11 NCAA tournaments since 2009 and advanced to the national quarterfinal in 2016.
With all that said, 2023 posed some legitimate questions for the program. With 12-year head coach Angela McMahon-Serpone stepping down, how would Jana Drummond fare in her first year at the helm? How would the team look after the departure of Kendra Harbinger and Kelly Marra, the top two scorers from last year? Would St. Joseph’s be the new team to beat in the A-10 after their 2022 conference tournament crown?
Most of those questions were answered by the start of March. After a 1-1 start which included a 10-goal loss to then-No. 3 Boston College, the Minutewomen have rattled off 10 straight wins. UMass is ranked No. 15 in the country and is in pole position in the A-10 at 5-0.
Following the loss to the Eagles, UMass punched back with a 14-5 win over Siena and a 14-6 win over Dartmouth. In their last 10 games, the Minutewomen have won by an average of 9.4 goals, and they’ve held their opponents to single digits seven times.
They’ve beaten good teams, too. In a back-to-back in early March, UMass downed No. 25 UConn, 16-12, and then smoked No. 23 Richmond, 22-12. Senior attacker Alex Finn scored six points in the win over the Huskies, and UMass tallied a whopping nine first quarter goals to pull ahead of the Spiders.
Offense has been a calling card for the Minutewomen as long as they’ve had national success. That’s no different this year. UMass averages 15.67 goals per game, good for the 10th-best scoring offense in the country. Perhaps more impressive, the team’s top five scorers are all between 20 and 30 goals. Talk about a balanced offense.
On the back end, UMass’ defense has seen a significant jump under Drummond’s tutelage. UMass ranks fourth nationally in scoring defense, allowing 7.75 goals per game. For context, that’s over two goals better than their 2022 number (9.40 goals allowed per game). Redshift freshman goalie Catrina Tobin has been stellar, already nabbing two A-10 Rookie of the Week awards. Tobin primarily plays in second halves for UMass, working in concert with starter Gina Carroll.
The Minutewomen have just four games left in the regular season: vs. Duquesne, at VCU, at Saint Joseph’s and vs. George Mason. We’re circling that matchup against the Hawks on April 22. Come May, UMass will be fighting to reclaim the A-10 tournament title, and they’ll be looking for their fourth Final Four in program history.
Other Storylines to Know:
1. Notre Dame hands Tar Heels second loss of season. Notre Dame knows a thing or two about beating UNC. On Saturday afternoon in South Bend, the Irish handed the Tar Heels their second loss of the season, 16-12. The defeat marked UNC’s first regular season ACC loss since 2019, which also came against Notre Dame.
Just over a minute in, All-American senior midfielder Kasey Choma put the Irish in front, and they led the entire game. Notre Dame outscored UNC in each of the opening two quarters and held a 18-10 shot advantage at halftime. Senior attacker Madison Ahern netted five goals to lead all scorers, and Choma finished with three goals and an assist. Ahern was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week following the win, and graduate middie Hannah Dorney nabbed ACC Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors thanks to her physical presence.
UNC had seven different scorers in the game, but no Tar Heel found more than two goals. Irish goalie Lilly Callahan finished with seven saves. She’s sixth in the nation in goals against average (8.44). The Irish don’t have long before another big ACC test—they play Boston College on Saturday.
2. Yale spoils Army’s perfect season in one-goal classic. Phew. File this one away as a candidate for Game of the Year. In a top-15 matchup featuring teams with a combined 19-2 record, No. 13 Yale handed No. 14 Army their first loss of the season, 14-13, at Michie Stadium in New York. This game had it all—elite shot-making, big time saves and a thrilling fourth quarter. In the end, Yale’s persistence on the offensive end (+9 in shots on goals, 25-16) and draw advantage (19-12) made the difference.
Yale jumped in front, 4-1, in the first quarter thanks to goals from four different scorers. Bulldogs leading scorer Jenna Collignon netted her only goal in the opening three minutes. From then on, Yale’s offense worked by committee. And so did Army’s. Trailing, 7-4, midway through the second quarter, the Black Knights went on a 5-0 scoring run that stretched into the third. Army freshman attacker Allison Reilly was brilliant, leading the way with four goals.
But the Bulldogs scored six of the game’s last nine goals, retaking the lead with 7:56 left on a Bri Carrasquillo laser from inside the arc. Sophomore midfielder Fallon Vaughn scored three straight for Yale during the late push, too. Then, with the Bulldogs leading by one with 1:05 to go, sophomore goalie Cami Donadio made a clutch save to secure the win. Yale has now won five straight and has three ranked wins on the season (Princeton, Duke, Army).
3. Johns Hopkins down Rutgers, pushing Scarlet Knights out of national poll. In 2021, Rutgers recorded its first-ever NCAA Tournament win. In 2022, Rutgers notched 16 victories—its most wins in single-season program history—including another first-round NCAA Tournament triumph. In 2023, however, Rutgers has taken a significant step back. Now 4-6, the Scarlet Knights are at serious risk of missing out on May Madness after starting the year No. 8 in the Inside Lacrosse preseason poll.
Johns Hopkins mobs goalie Maddie Tydings in celebration after downing Big Ten rival Rutgers. The Blue Jays are 2-1 in conference play. Photo courtesy: Johns Hopkins Athletics.
Their latest setback came at the hands of Big Ten foe Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays entered the fourth quarter at historic Homewood Field trailing a still-ranked Rutgers team, 11-6. That’s when Johns Hopkins orchestrated a game-ending 6-0 run that featured five different goal scorers, namely senior midfielder Bailey Cheetham, who jumpstarted the comeback with a goal late in the third quarter. Shoutout to senior defender Haleigh Moore (and her career-high five caused turnovers) as well as senior middie Madison McPherson (and her career-high six ground balls).
After the collapse, Rutgers is no longer ranked and sits at the bottom the Big Ten standings. The only other Big Ten team without a conference win is Ohio State, but the Buckeyes have one more overall win than the Scarlet Knights.
4. Virginia Tech beats Duke in triple OT thriller. After giving No. 7 Boston College a scare the previous week, the Hokies completed an ACC upset at Duke, 14-13. In triple overtime. Sophomore middie Maura O’Malley was the architect of the ranked victory Virginia Tech had been searching for: She netted a game-tying goal on a free-position shot in the waning seconds of regulation and then scored the game-winner six minutes and 44 seconds into overtime.
The Hokies held a 10-8 lead late in the third quarter before Duke junior attacker Katie DeSimone ignited a 4-0 Blue Devils surge. DeSimone finished with a hat trick, and so did senior middie Lexi Schmalz.
From start to finish, the Hokies controlled the draw circle. Freshman Sarah Gresham got the best of the NCAA’s all-time draw control leader Maddie Jenner, who is leading the nation with 11.2 draws per game this season. Gresham often forced the ball out to sophomore middie Olivia Vergano, setting the stage for Vergano’s game-high 14 draws. Virginia Tech netminder Jocelyn Torres played all 72 minutes in cage while registering eight saves, one of which came in the second frame of overtime. The win put both Virginia Tech and Duke at .500. It was a nice moment for Hokies head coach Kristen Skiera, a Blue Devils alum.
5. UConn wins third straight, rejoins Top 25. The Big East has a chance to get at least three teams in the NCAA Tournament this season, and UConn is one of them (the others are Denver and Marquette). And don’t forget Villanova, which is making a push, too. But the Huskies have made their way back into the Inside Lacrosse Top 25, where they started the season after suffering first-round NCAA Tournament exits each of the last two years.
Juniors attacker Susan Lafountain throws her head back and smiles as her teammates hype her up following a goal against UMass. Photo courtesy: UConn Athletics.
UConn boasts a 7-3 record, thanks to a three-game win streak. That surge has included a 20-12 victory over Albany and then back-to-back road wins against Hofstra and Columbia, the first of which was decided in overtime. UConn doubled up Columbia, 16-8, over the weekend, with five different Huskies players finding the back of the net two or more times.
UConn has six double-digit goal scorers this season, but it’s paced by senior attacker Kate Shaffer, who is tied 47th nationally with 45 points (30 goals, 15 assists). The Huskies have a big date with Villanova Wednesday afternoon that could wind up affecting the bubble.
6. Queens beat Lindenwood in their first D-I Meeting. Once opponents in the 2021 D-II National Championship, Queens College and Lindenwood University squared off in their first matchup as Division I programs on Friday at Dickson Field in Charlotte, N.C. Thanks to a monster first quarter and a stifling defense, the Queens Royals got the win, 14-5, and defeated the Lindenwood Lions for the first time in seven tries.
The Royals started quick, netting three goals in the opening 3:39. Senior midfielders Stephanie Joyce and Shannon Donovan scored just 40 seconds apart, and freshman attacker Kayleen Favreau added the first of her three goals just moments later. Queens won the opening quarter, 7-1, and didn’t look back. The Lions had a three-goal run in the third quarter, but they were held to just five goals on 14 shots. Queens graduate goalie Sharn Muffett tied her season-high with nine saves.
The Royals have the best team goals against average (9.50) and save percentage (48.6%) in the conference, as well as the third-best scoring offense (13.10). Queens continues ASUN play with home games against Delaware State Thursday and Liberty Saturday.
Weekly Focus:
PAC-12 SHAPING UP TO BE THREE-TEAM RACE IN APRIL
Redshirt freshman midfielder Jordyn Case runs through the high five tunnel ahead of a game against Cal. Stanford looks to defend their Pac-12 title this year. Photo courtesy: Stanford Athletics.
Figuring out the Pac-12 this season will make your head hurt. Colorado beat Stanford, but Stanford topped USC, which took down Colorado. Yes, read that one more time.
There is a three-way tie at the top of the conference among those three teams. All of them have a 4-1 Pac-12 record, although USC is the only ranked squad of the group and has the best overall record at 9-3. That said, the Trojans have lost both of their games against ranked opponents, notably falling, 14-3, to BC in their season opener. Plus, as mentioned above, an unranked Stanford just beat USC.
The Cardinal might be the biggest head scratcher. They entered the season No. 14 in the Inside Lacrosse Top 25 preseason poll, except they have since fallen out of the poll. Stanford has swung and missed at four opportunities for ranked victories. Three of those games, however, were decided by three or fewer goals: first against Virginia, then against Jacksonville and finally against Stony Brook. The Cardinal have a high-powered offense that averages 14.73 goals per game, good for first first in the Pac-12 and 16th in the country.
Colorado is a bit of a mystery, too. Back in February, the Buffs suffered a blowout defeat to Louisville, which is now second-to-last in the ACC. Less than a week later, they gave now-No. 3 and undefeated Denver a run for its money in a one-goal game. All five of Colorado’s wins have occurred in the last six games. After an 0-4 start, the Buffs still have a shot at the NCAA Tournament.
Meanwhile, after being snubbed from the NCAA Tournament last season, Arizona State has regressed in 2023. The Sun Devils are 3-7, and their only wins have come against St. Bonaventure and Pac-12 bottom feeders Oregon and Cal. Speaking of the Ducks and Golden Bears, they are also both at the three-win mark, only they have just one Pac-12 win between them: a 13-12 Cal victory over Oregon, naturally.
So who will get the auto bid? Well, probably not Oregon, Cal and ASU. Beyond that trio, it’s anyone’s best guess in a down and wacky year for the Pac-12.
Numbers to Know:
72.2% – The winningest percentage of No. 2 Northwestern’s opponents to this point in the season, making the Wildcats’ schedule the toughest in the country so far. Ohio State has the toughest remaining schedule, with future opponents combining for a 35-11 record. Syracuse has the second-toughest schedule left. They still have to play UNC and Boston College.
55.5% – Saint Francis (PA) graduate goalie Elyssa Enrique leads the nation in save percentage. She’s closing in on 2,500 career minutes over her five-year career with the Red Flash, and she has 497 career saves.
8 – The number of games that have gone to multiple overtime so far this season. Delaware State beat Akron in four overtimes back in February, and both Virginia Tech-Duke and Butler-Winthrop went to three OTs.
Tewaaraton Watch:
POINTS LEADERS
GOALS LEADERS
NOTE: Stats correct through April 3.
Inside Lacrosse Poll
Screenshots pulled from insidelacrosse.com.
Undefeated Denver continues its best season in program history, taking UNC’s place at No. 3 following the Tar Heels’ defeat to Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish, by the way, jumped four spots from No. 12 to No. 8. UNC now rounds out the top five, behind No. 4 James Madison, winners of 11 straight. Despite continued Patriot League domination, Loyola slid two spots from No. 9 to No. 11. Yale is up to No. 13 and is in position to keep rising after Wednesday’s win over No. 14 Army, the Black Knights’ first loss of the season.
Clemson climbed three spots to No. 19 after a win over Louisville, the Tigers’ second ACC victory of their inaugural season. Riding an eight-game win streak, Navy vaulted four places to No. 20. The two newcomers to the poll this week are No. 23 Richmond and No. 25 UConn. Rutgers and Jacksonville, on the other hand, have moved to the outside looking in.
What’s Ahead?
No. 25 UConn @ Villanova, April 5, 2 p.m.
No. 23 Richmond @ No. 4 JMU, April 5, 5 p.m.
No. 3 Denver @ No. 25 UConn, April 8, 12 p.m.
No. 17 Penn State @ No. 16 Michigan, April 8, 12 p.m.
No. 7 Boston College @ No. 8 Notre Dame, April 8, 12 p.m.
No. 13 Yale @ No. 22 Penn, April 8, 1 p.m.
Stanford @ No. 21 USC, April 9, 3 p.m.
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