University of Massachusets Athletics
Field Hockey Hosts Saint Louis In A-10 Opener
October 07, 2010 | Field Hockey
Oct. 7, 2010
UMass (5-6, 0-0 A-10) vs. Saint Louis (0-12, 0-0 A-10)
Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010 • 6 PM ET
Garber Field, Amherst, Mass.
TV: CBS 3 Now
Streaming Video: UMass All-Access
Live Stats: GameTracker
AMHERST, Mass. - Coming off a huge 2-0 victory over No. 8 Syracuse on Sunday, its second win over a top 10 team in 2010, the UMass field hockey team (5-6) opens Atlantic 10 play on Saturday when it hosts Saint Louis (0-12) under the lights at Garber Field in a 6 p.m. game. The game will be televised live on CBS 3 Now (Comcast 293 in Western Mass.).
Sunday's game wraps up a four-game homestand for the Minutewomen and kicks off their quest for a 12th Atlantic 10 Championship as they play their second and final night game of the season.
UMASS FIELD HOCKEY ON TV
UMass and CBS3 Springfield have reached an agreement where 100 UMass sporting events in the 2010-11 season will air live on CBS 3 Now starting this August. The channel can be seen on Comcast Digital Cable channel 293 in Western Massachusetts and will soon air on both Charter and Time Warner cable systems.
Saturday night's game against Saint Louis will air live on CBS 3 Now with Josh Maurer on the call, Remaining field hockey broadcast dates include Oct. 15 vs. Lock Haven and Oct. 24 vs. Saint Joseph's.
As always, UMass field hockey's home games will also be webcast on UMass All-Access, while free live stats will be available online via GameTracker.
Check UMassAthletics.com or CBS3 Springfield.com for up-to-date broadcast schedules of UMass games.
UMASS SHUTS OUT THE ORANGE
Highlights
Jaime Bourazeris scored in the first half, Molly MacDonnell scored a second-half goal, and Alesha Widdall made 11 saves to lead UMass field hockey (5-6) to a 2-0 victory over No. 8 Syracuse (7-4) on Sunday afternoon at Garber Field. The win comes on Head Coach Justine Sowry's birthday and is the Minutewomen first win over the Orange since 1998, snaping a string of 12 Orange wins in the series.
The win served as a fitting birthday present to Sowry who had been 0-4 against Syracuse coming into the game.
No. 8 Syracuse is the second top 10 ranked Big East team the Minutewomen have upset in 2010. UMass defeated No. 4 Connecticut, 1-0 on Sept. 11, also at Garber Field.
Both UMass goals were set up on passes by Nicole Cordero, the first two assists of the sophomore forward's career.
Widdall made a season-high 11 saves in goal and made a spectacular diving stop on a penalty stroke by Syracuse's Martina Loncarica with 2:11 left in the game to keep the shutout. It is the junior's third shutout of the season and 16th of her career.
WIDDALL & MACDONNELL WIN AWARDS
UMass swept this week's Atlantic 10 field hockey awards with junior goalkeeper Alesha Widdall being named A-10 Player of the Week and freshman forward Molly MacDonnell taking Rookie of the Week honors. Widdall made 11 saves to earn the shutout and MacDonnell scored her first career goal in the Minutewomen's 2-0 victory over No. 8 Syracuse on Sunday at Garber Field.
Widdall's performance in goal also earned her UMass Co-Athlete of the Week honors with football's Tyler Holmes, as well as ECAC Defensive Player of the Week.
UMASS NOTES
Junior goalkeeper Alesha Widdall is once again among the nation's goalkeeping elite. Her .816 save percentage currently ranks sixth nationally while her 1.25 goals against average ranks 14th.
Widdall ranks second among all active goalies in career save percentage (.789) and sixth in goals against average (1.27). She also ranks seventh in minutes played, coming in as the first non-senior on the list.
Senior captain Katie Kelly has been the driving force for the Minutewomen's offense this season. The Dedham, Mass. native leads the team in goals (6) and points (12). Her six goals account for 50 percent of the team's scoring this season. Her biggest goal of 2010 was when she scored the overtime game-winner at Yale on Sept. 19.
Senior Makaela Potts has one goal and one assist on the season, but the two-time NFHCA All-American's true value isn't measured on the stat sheet. A key component on both the offensive and defensive corner units, Potts is also relied upon to be UMass' primary ball-mover and playmaker from the back and midfield lines.
Kelly (36) and Potts (30) have accounted for 66 of the team's 130 shots. The next closest to them is Nicole Cordero with 13.
Freshman forward Lindsay Bowman scored the first two goals of her career on Sept.11-12, and they were big ones. On Sept. 11, she scored the game's lone goal in the 1-0 victory over No. 4 UConn. On the following day, she scored the game-tying goal with 6:04 remaining before UMass eventually won in overtime at Yale. Bowman was named A-10 Rookie of the Week and UMass Co-Athlete of the Week with football quarterback Kyle Havens.
Among those joining Bowman on UMass' very young forward line are sophomore Nicole Cordero and freshman Molly MacDonnell. Cordero recorded both assists in the 2-0 win over the No. Orange, while MacDonnell scored her first career goal in that game.
Senior defender Jaime Bourazeris has two goal and one assist on the season. Her first goal was the game-winner in a 2-1 game at Northeastern and her second was the game-winner in the Minutewomen's 2-0 win over No. 8 Syracuse.
UMass returns nine starters from the 2009 team. Head Coach Justine Sowry also welcomes 11 new players in 2010, 10 freshmen and one transfer.
Sowry, in her fourth year as head coach, has a career record of 48-29 and has twice been named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year (2007-08) and was named Northeast Region Coach of the Year in 2008.
SERIES HISTORY
UMass has won all seven previous meetings with the Billikens. The series began in 1979 with a 3-1 UMass win and the teams did not meet again until 2003 (3-1). The teams have met every year since 2005 when Saint Louis joined the Atlantic 10. Overall, UMass has outscored SLU, 26-5.
In last season's meeting, on Oct. 25 in St. Louis, Katie Kelly recorded a career-high eight points on two goals and four assists in UMass' 10-1 victory. The 10-goal outburst was the second-most in program history and came 30 years to the day of the Minutewomen's record 11 goals against Smith College in 1979. Makaela Potts scored two goals and assisted on two others. Freshmen Kate Heineman and Anniek Scholten also registered the first multi-goal games of their careers. UMass outshot the Billikens, 31-3, and drew 13 penalty corners to Saint Louis' three.
The last time the teams played in Amherst was on Oct. 12, 2008, a 5-0 UMass victory. Jill Powers scored twice, Mary Shea had a goal and two assists, Katie Kelly added a goal and an assist, and Katelyn Orlando scored a goal.
SCOUTING SAINT LOUIS
The Billikens have yet to break into the win column in 2010, coming into the weekend 0-12 on the season. Three of their losses have been one-goal losses, including a 1-0 overtime game against Robert Morris. As this is the A-10 opener for both clubs, the only common opponent they share thus far is Albany. Saint Louis lost that game, 6-1 on Sept. 20, while UMass fell, 2-1, to the Great Danes on Sept. 26.
SLU plays at Siena on Friday at 3 p.m. before heading to Amherst for Saturday night's game against the Minutewomen.
Junior forward Nicole Kent is the main offensive threat for the Billikens. She leads the team with eight points on three goals and two assists. Also with goals on the season are Lauryn Smith, Chelsea Hower, and Megan Rogers.
Junior Alex LaBarge has seen the bulk of the time in goal for SLU. She has made 98 saves in 12 games for a .685 save percentage to go along with a 4.17 goals against average. Katherine Deem has seen limited action in goal, posting a .786 save percentage in just over 100 minutes.
Saint Louis has been outscored by its opponents, 51-6, and outshot, 253-70.
ATLANTIC 10 PLAY
Under Justine Sowry, the Minutewomen are 15-4 in Atlantic 10 regular season games, including a stellar 8-1 mark at Garber Field.
Including A-10 Tournament games, UMass is 19-5 against conference foes under Sowry.
All-time, UMass is 89-24-1 (.785) in A-10 regular season games and 28-9 (.757) in tournament games. The Minutewomen have won a conference-best 12 regular season conference titles and 11 tournament championships.
UMASS TAKING ON THE BEST
UMass' aggressive scheduling has paid off as the Minutewomen have come in at the No. 15 spot in both NCAA RPI reports to come out this season. UMass is the fourth-highest non-BCS conference school in the RPI.
The Minutewomen have defeated two ranked teams in 2010, both top 10 squads from the Big East: No. 4 UConn, 1-0 (Sept. 11), and No. 8 Syracuse, 2-0 (Oct. 3).
Four of UMass' losses have come by one goal and all six have come to teams that were either ranked at the time or are currently ranked (No. 9 Boston College, 1-0; No. 17 Indiana, 2-1; current No. 13 Boston University, 2-1; No. 18 American, 2-0; No. 2 Maryland, 3-0; and No. 19 Albany, 2-1).
MINUTEWOMEN UPSET NO. 4 UCONN
Lindsay Bowman scored the first goal of her career off a pass from fellow freshman Mika Black to lead UMass to the upset victory over No. 4 UConn, 1-0, on Sept. 11 at Garber Field.
Eight of UMass' 11 game have been against teams that were ranked at the time of the game or currently are ranked.
It was the Minutewomen's first victory over the Huskies since 2000, a span of 11 games. It is also the highest ranked opponent UMass has defeated in the Justine Sowry era, replacing last season's win over No. 9 Iowa.
UMass last defeated UConn on Sept. 30, 2000, 2-1, in Amherst. The Huskies had won the last 10 meetings.
The win was also the highest-ranked opponent UMass has beaten in 14 years, dating back to a 3-2 double-overtime victory over No. 4 James Madison on Sept. 14, 1996 in Iowa City, Iowa.
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