Field Hockey Loses Wild Shootout To Vermont, 6-4

Oct. 11, 2006

AMHERST, Mass. - Vermont (7-5) scored three goals in a 6:36 span of the second half to defeat Massachusetts (3-11) 6-4 Wednesday night at Garber Field. UMass overcame three different Catamount leads to take a 4-3 lead mid-way through the second half, but Vermont scored three unanswered goals to close out the game. Junior Rachael Mervine (Conway, Mass.) led UMass with two goals and an assist while junior Erin O'Brien (Annandale, Va.) dished out two assists. Maegan Luce and Danielle Collins each had three goals for Vermont.

The Catamounts got on the board first just four minutes and 32 seconds after the start of the game. Maegan Luce broke into the UMass zone leading a 2-on-1. She sent a cross pass to Danielle Collins who slid the ball past UMass freshman goalkeeper Sarah Williams (Colorado Springs, Colo.) for her team-high 10th goal of the season.

The Minutewomen came right back to tie the game up just three minutes later. Freshman Cher King (Christ Church, Barbados) stole the ball from a Catamount defender and came down the right side. She entered the circle and passed the ball to sophomore Katelyn Orlando (Manchester, Mass.) in front of the net. Orlando slid the ball across the circle to junior Rachael Mervine (Conway, Mass.) who one-timed the ball into the net tying the game up at one apiece. For Mervine, it was her second goal of the season while Orlando picks up her fourth assist.

Vermont continued to dominate play and made it 2-1 at the 16:12 mark following a sequence where it had five shots on goal. Williams stopped three of the shots and junior Paula Verma (Sudbury, Mass.) made a defensive save, but Luce was able to score on the rebound of her initial shot that was saved by Williams. It was her 10th goal of the season and gave the Catamounts a 2-1 lead.

Vermont continued to pepper Williams with shots, but she stood her ground to keep the game just 2-1. The Catamounts controlled the edge in shots 17-3 in the first half and Williams made nine saves to keep UMass in the game. Vermont took all three corners in the half.

UMass got its first corner of the game just a minute and a half into the start of the second half and took advantage. Mervine inserted the ball to junior Kristina DoRosario (Oakville, Ontario). Junior Erin O'Brien (Annandale, Va.) came in and took a shot that was saved by Vermont goalkeeper Kristen Heavens. The rebound went right to Mervine on the near-side post and she stuffed it in to tie the game up at two. O'Brien got the assist on Mervine's second goal of the game, her first career multi-goal game.

Vermont came right back to take the lead again about 10 minutes later. Luce picked up a loose ball in the UMass circle and just blasted it past Williams. UMass came right back, however, and tied the game up at three off its second corner of the game just three minutes later. O'Brien took the initial shot on the corner that somehow ended up on Orlando's stick through a lot of traffic. Orlando was able to just one-time the ball into the net for her second goal of the year. King came in and faked the shot which was able to give O'Brien some daylight to set up the goal.

UMass kept up the momentum and took its first lead less than four minutes later. The Minutewomen converted on their third penalty corner in as many opportunities to take the 4-3 lead with just under 17 minutes left. Mervine inserted the corner to junior Kara Murphy (Dedham, Mass.). For the first time, the corner went to the other side of the field and freshman Lauren Gillespie (Casco, Maine) buried her team-high ninth goal of the year and forced a Vermont timeout. Both Mervine and Murphy were credited with assists on the play.

Vermont came right back two and a half minutes later to tie the game. Collins dribbled in from the far side along the end line. She centered to a cutting Luce who buried her third goal of the game past Williams. Three minutes later, Collins tallied her second goal of the game when she broke in alone on Williams and blasted a shot from the left side of the circle. The Catamounts now had a 5-4 lead with just over 11 minutes left in regulation. Less than four minutes later, Collins took advantage of another UMass bad pass deep in its zone and was able to bury her third goal of the game with less than eight minutes left to take a 6-4 lead. It was her third goal of the game.

UMass had three penalty corners in the final four minutes, but were unable to score again and suffered its fourth consecutive loss. Vermont finished the game with a 25-17 edge in shots while each team took seven corners. Williams finished with 10 saves for the Minutewomen while Heavens tallied eight for Vermont.

Massachusetts continues its season-long, eight-game homestand Friday afternoon against Saint Louis at 3:00 P.M. If you can't make it out to Garber Field, live video and audio will be available at www.umassathletics.com. Live stats will also be available at www.umassathletics.com.

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Team Stats

MERVINE Rachael

ORLANDO Katelyn

GILLESPIE Lauren

O'BRIEN Erin

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics