University of Massachusets Athletics
Field Hockey Heads To Brown On Tuesday
September 23, 2008 | Field Hockey
Sept. 23, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. - UMass field hockey (5-2), ranked 18th in Monday's WomensFieldHockey.com Poll, travels to Providence, R.I. for a rare mid-week on Tuesday to take on the Brown University Bears (1-4) at 4 p.m. The Minutewomen, fresh off a 2-0 victory over Vermont at home on Saturday night, are off to their best start since the 2000 season. The Bears enter Tuesday's game losers of three in a row, but two of those were 1-0 games.
Keeping Up With The Action
Fans that can't make the trip can follow the action on Gametracker at UMassAthletics.com. Live video will also be available from Brown at BrownBears.com.
Series History
The UMass-Brown series has been dominated by the Minutewomen, 6-0. The team's first met in 1978 and met every year up to 1982. The schools didn't play again until they revived the series in 2007. Over the six game they have played, the Minutewomen have outscored the Bears, 20-3.
Last season, on Sept. 26, a first half goal by Erin Parker and a second half goal by Lauren Gillespie led UMass to a 2-1 victory over Brown at Garber Field. Sarah Williams made two saves in goal to earn the win. Then-freshmen Katie Kelly and Jaime Bourazeris both recorded their first-career assists in the game. Brown's lone goal was scored by Victoria Sacco. UMass oushot Brown, 9-5.
Scouting Brown
Brown enters Tuesday's game 1-4 on the season. After a season opening 5-2 loss at New Hampshire, the Bears picked up their first win at Maine, 2-1, on penalty strokes after the teams were tied following two extra periods. Brown then dropped a 1-0 decision at Villanova before falling 7-1 at Northeastern. In their first home game of the season, the Bears fell 1-0 to Columbia on Saturday in a hard-fought Ivy League opener.
The Bears' offense is led by freshman midfielder Abigail Taft. She has scored three of the team's four goals this season and is tied for the team lead in shots with eight. Senior midfielder Sara Eaton has chipped in as well with one goal and one assist.
In goal, sophomore Lauren Kessler has started every game, posting a 2.34 goals against average with a .788 save percentage.
The Bears have been outscored by their opponents, 15-5, and have been outshot as well, 115-44.
Saturday Vs. Vermont
Katelyn Orlando and Makaela Potts provided the scoring and the UMass defense pitched its third shutout of the season as the Minutewomen downed the Vermont Catamounts, 2-0, on Saturday evening at Garber Field. The teams played to a scoreless first half before Orlando and Potts scored less than eight minutes apart in the second for all that the Minutewomen would need. The shutout was goalkeeper Alesha Widdall's third of the season in only her seventh-career game. It also snapped a mini two-game losing streak vs. UVM, giving UMass its first win over the Catamounts since 2005.
Final shots were 15-6 in favor of UMass while penalty corners were tied at six. Widdall finished with two saves for her third shutout. She improves her goals against average to 0.78, sixth best in the country. Kristen Heavens was strong for the Catamounts, making seven stops to keep Vermont close.
Looking Ahead
After Tuesday's game, the Minutewomen return home to prepare for a challenging weekend at Garber Field against two ranked opponents. On Saturday No. 20 Albany comes to town for a noon game and then on Sunday No. 3 Syracuse comes to Garber Field for a 1 p.m. showdown.
